Eternity Dragons
by Marimo
Summary: Visions of Van once again take Hitomi back to Gaea. But a new enemy has risen with not only a plan for Gaea, but with a plot to put the Mystic Moon itself in danger. And this time around, there may be more than one Escaflowne involved. now on hold
1. Remembrance

"Eternity Dragon"

Chapter 1 - Remembrance

-:-

"_I won't forget you, even when I'm old!"_

"_I promise, I'll never forget you!"_

The young teen groaned softly, curling up on her bed and holding her pillow over her head. For months, now, that had been playing in her mind._ "Why, oh _why_ did I say that? Did I really mean… that I would never see him again?"_

She had to see him in real life at least once more, right? If her life was like the fantasy that it now was… she would have to see him at least once more. To be in his arms… to truly tell him how she felt. And maybe… just maybe, a kiss? How could she not have kissed him before she left? She groaned again in regret as she tucked the pillow beneath her head once more.

But Van really everything she missed? No. There was Gaea and her great lands. Allen Schezar, Knight of Asturia, Millerna, Dryden, Prince Chid, Celena, who she had never really gotten to meet properly. Even Merle. How she missed it all.

Hitomi Kanzaki sighed, uncurling her body to lie back on her pillow and stare up at the dark ceiling of her room. She glanced briefly at the clock. 2:15. It was early morning and she still couldn't sleep. Not surprising, really. The loss of sleep wasn't new to her.

Only a few months had passed since she had taken her leave of Gaea. A few months? Seemed like a year…

The first few weeks were a blur now. Getting used to the other life. Life on the Mystic Moon… or, Earth, as it was now called. She had gone through multiple, hour long conversations with her two best friends, Amano and Yukari. Her fantastical story of the other world was hard to believe. But what else could have explained the beam of light? And the young boy they knew to be called Van and the white dragon he had taken Hitomi away on.

Van. Everything she thought about... always led her back to him. She had never really gotten used to the loss. Just when she had realized that she loved him… she had been sent back. It wasn't fair. But every so often, when the pain was unbearable, Van came to her in a brief vision. Smiling. The smile had always been returned. Always. But lately, that smile was forced. She couldn't help it anymore.

She missed him. That messy, hopeless black hair. His warm brown eyes. His wings. The smell… of fields. His rare smile and laugh. That stubborn personality.

"Oh, Van…" Hitomi sat up, resting her back on the wall that her bed was up against. Her arms wrapped loosely around her bent knees, she looked around her room. It brought back memories. How she had read her own fortune... if she would ever find true love. And how she saw The Tower of distant separation… The Ace of Serpents. And the vision from before of the dragon armor Escaflowne and being saved by a winged angel... which, at the time, she didn't realize was Van. Then came the beam of light and her summoning to Gaea. From there, her life was thrown into a dangerous adventure from which she emerged, changed. It sounded so much like a movie… or a fairy tale. It had taken many days of doubt, soul-searching, and questioning to convince herself that all that had happened had been real.

Those fateful cards now lay in a neat pile on her desk. She had given up tarot card reading but kept the cards to remind her herself. To never forget. "Not like that's possible…" She sighed softly, looking at her desk. As she concentrated, she felt a sudden pain in her stomach. Gasping, a vision obscured everything in sight.

_There lay Van in a pile of blood. "MERLE! NO! You bastards…" A swift kick in the head by a shadowed figure silenced him. _

_Then the images changed to Escaflowne in its dragon form. Flying beside it was a black copy of the dragon armor. A black Escaflowne? _

_Hitomi gasped, looking around in shock. A woman then stood, shrouded in black. The only visible thing was blood dripping from her hands. Before her features became visible, she was replaced with Earth. Then, it all burned. The Earth, the girl, the Escaflowne's…_

"No! VAN!" She gasped, the vision disappearing and bringing her back to reality. Another vision… she hadn't had images like these… since Gaea.

"What's… what's happening..!" Pressing a shaking hand to her forehead, she tried to bring the images to mind again, but she could make no sense of them. Van. Was Van really in trouble? Was Van dying? And what about Merle? And the black Escaflowne…Finding this to much for her, Hitomi sighed and lay her head back down on the pillow. What did it mean?

-:-

The next morning, Hitomi tired not to think about the vision she had had a few hours before and instead changed from her pajamas into jeans and a layered shirt. As she tossed her sleeping clothes onto her bed, she noticed something out of place. Her tarot cards were somewhat out of order. The top two cards had been swept off the pile. _"Probably wind…"_

She moved forward to fix up the stack when she noticed exactly what cards were out of order and now lay face up. Her hand drew back as her emerald eyes widened in shock and a weak gasp escaped her.

The Death card.

Again, The Tower.

"What… no…" She took in a shaky breath before looking down at the two cards, remembering her vision. "You're wrong. Van's not dead. He can't be… I would've felt it..." She pressed a hand to her chest where once, a while ago, her pendant hung. "… I would've felt it…"

As if in defiance, another card gently floated from the stack to reveal it's meaning.

The Ace of Serpents.

"No…" It was happening all over again. "No!" She grabbed all the cards, running out of her room past her confused mother and brother outside to where the garbage bin stood. Hitomi stood over it, holding the cards and breathing heavily. Not from running, but from emotion.

Just as she was about to toss the cards in, a noise distracted her. The sound of a door opening from the house over. She had gotten new neighbors recently but hadn't seen any of them. A girl her age with black-blue hair flowing down her back walked out. As she walked, in Hitomi's eyes, pure white wings spread from her back. Gaping, she continued to stare, but as soon as the image had appeared, the wings were gone and it left behind a simple girl that had just noticed Hitomi standing there.

It was awkward, the girl having caught Hitomi with reddened, angry cheeks holding a pile of cards over a trash bin and staring in shock at her. She smiled in a friendly matter and walked over to the fence that separated their two yards.

"Hi. What're you doing?" A paper bag in her hand showed that she had actually been going to her family's own garbage bin to take out the trash.

Hitomi blinked at her then hurriedly pulled her hands back, holding the tarot cards tightly in her trembling fingers. "Hi… oh, um… nothing…" She was still disturbed by the image of wings. Wings that resembled Van's. Draconian wings. A card fell from her hands and the girl instantly knelt to pick it up for her. Handing it back, she smiled, her large grey eyes piercing.

"It's the card of a hanged man. Here, you dropped it."

"Uh... thanks…"

The card of the hanged man? Not everything is what it seems? Hitomi hesitantly took the card, feeling strange sensations from this girl, who grinned and tossed her garbage in her bin.

"So why're you throwing your cards away? They look like they're in good condition."

"Well, I… I dunno."

"Oh well. It was nice meeting you." She smiled again and waved, leaving Hitomi shocked and still clutching at her cards. Then, still looking shocked, she turned and went back up to her house, calmly walking past her family that was eating breakfast and back up to her room. She dropped the cards down on her table and stared at them.

Who was that girl? And why… did she have wings?

The cards, the girl… what did it all mean?

-:-

The next day was school and the first class was History. Hitomi sat by her usual seat near the windows and Yukari was next to her, who was still babbling on excitedly about the tickets to a local concert Amano had bought for them. Hitomi was trying to pay attention but couldn't help but have her thoughts stray back to all that had happened the day before. She was suddenly jerked out of her daydreams and even Yukari paused in her rants to look to the front of classroom where a strange girl stood, looking somewhat nervous.

Hitomi gasped. There she was. Her new neighbor. The girl from before.

The professor stood and cleared his throat loudly, quieting the class.

"We have a new student today. This is Miss Harakei Hamano. She has just transferred from Tokyo to join us here today."

Harakei grinned slightly and bowed. "Pleased to meet you all."

The professor nodded and motioned to an empty seat in front of Hitomi. "Please take a sit by Miss Kanzaki, Hamano. Hitomi, raise your hand."

Hitomi, still somewhat dazed, obediently lifted her arm. Harakei nodded and walked forward, giving the shocked girl a small smile before sitting and the professor continued on with his lesson.

The rest of the morning passed uneventfully. It turned out that Harakei had been placed in all of Hitomi's classes. Then Hitomi's lunch period began. She went outside and sat on the steps of her school to eat when she heard someone call her name. "Hitomi Kanzaki?'

Hitomi turned, blinking slightly. "Yes?"

Harakei stood there, looking slightly nervous. "Could I… sit with you?"

"Um... alright."

She smiled in relief, sitting down beside her. "Thank you."

"Your name's Harakei, isn't it?"

"Oh, that's my full name. Just call me Kei."

"Oh, Kei… alright." She nodded, looking at her to see wings again. She blinked, and as soon as they had appeared, they were gone. "Wings…"

Kei blinked. "What did you say?"

"Huh? Oh… nothing. The professor said you transferred from Tokyo?"

"Uh.. yeah. And now, as you can see, we're neighbors." The grey-eyed girl grinned.

Hitomi returned the grin rather weakly, turning back to her lunch. Her head was still swirling with that vision. She couldn't shake the thought that maybe… something had happened to Van. That he was in pain. And what about Merle? Van had called her name. Then there was the figure of the woman… and black Escaflowne? Bad things were going to happen…. Especially with those tarot card readings.

"Hitomi?"

She looked up sharply. "Eh.. yes?"

"Why were you throwing away those tarot cards yesterday?"

"Oh… a silly reason."

"I read tarot cards a little. That looked like a good deck."

"Yes, well… they mean a lot to me. I didn't throw them out after all…" The honey-browned haired girl laughed weakly.

Kei was about to say something when she accidentally knocked her knife off her lunch tray. With a sigh, she bent forward to pick it up. As she did so, the sleeve of her jacket pulled up and revealed a bracelet. Hitomi's eyes widened with shock and her breath caught in her chest. A pink stone hung from the chain. Just like her pendant.

"Where… where did you get that?"

"Hmm?" She stopped, looking at her wrist. "Oh, this? I dunno, when my parents adopted me, they said it had come with me. I usually wear it around my neck, but… I didn't feel like it today."

Hitomi still couldn't breathe. "Can I see it?"

"Oh, sure…" The girl held out her wrist to Hitomi, who in turn reached out to touch it.

As soon as her fingertips brushed the smooth surface, images suddenly filled her head. A field of flowers, a young woman with black hair laughing, the image of earth in the sky, wings, the pendant… then blood. Everywhere. Blood.

She gasped, staring at the pendant while Kei frowned in concern. "You ok, Hitomi?"

"I'm… I'm fine… I gotta go!" She stood, and without another word, she ran back into the school with Kei staring after her.

She ran, heading for the cafeteria where the only two people she could talk to were eating lunch.

What did it all mean? She couldn't get the images, the numerous questions, or the feeling of impending danger out of her head.

What did it all mean?


	2. Explanations

Well… welcome to chapter two of "Eternity Dragons." I apologize for the late update. Life caught up to me and kicked me in the ass, but I'm back! Really, yo! So I'll be able to update more often. And I also apologize for the first chapter. It's slow. It's the beginning, what can I say? Just wait it out, the plot's coming soon enough xD

In any case, I seemed to have forgotten the intro in chapter one. So here it is… in chapter two. This is my first fanfic and I hope you all like it. I don't own Escaflowne and what not either.

I dedicate this chapter to tea and rice krispies.

* * *

"Eternity Dragons" 

Chapter Two – Explanations

* * *

"Hitomi, are you sure about this?" The red-haired teen stared at her from across the table, looking bewildered and concerned. Her boyfriend, a brown-haired track star, sat beside her with the same expression. 

"Couldn't it have just been your imagination?"

The two had spent the last few minutes listening to their friend's urgent explanation after she had run in, startling them both.

Yukari and Amano. The only two on Earth who knew Hitomi's story. The only two that would believe it, if truth be told. They had heard the tale multiple times over the last three months that had passed. By now, they almost knew it by heart and all the characters from the mystical Gaea. They understood, somehow, Hitomi's connection and caring for everyone.

The green-eyed girl ran a hand through her honey-brown hair, sighing and nodding. "No... it happened, alright. I think he's in trouble." Her eyes stared down at the table in thought as the two before her mused over the situation as well, their lunches forgotten.

Yukari cleared her throat. "So you're saying… that someone attacked Van? And maybe something is wrong with that cat girl? Merle?"

"Yes, that's what I think. And the tarot cards, Yukari... they were trying to tell me something."

"Well, your cards _are_ known to show the future. Maybe what happened to Van… hasn't happened yet." Amano added, his hand on his chin.

"You could be right… I just don't know anymore!" In frustration, she slammed a hand down on the table, feeling helpless. "I need to help them. I just have to…"

Yukari put a hand over hers, her voice gentle. "But Hitomi... you know you can't do that. You don't have your lucky pendant anymore, remember?"

"I know…" She admitted grudgingly. Yukari was right. She _didn't_ have the pendant anymore. There was no way for her to go back. It was hopeless… but an idea sparked in her mind like lightning. "Wait… you remember that new girl? Kei?"

"Who, Harakei? Yeah." She nodded slowly, wondering why Hitomi's mood had changed suddenly.

"Well..." She went back into a quick, urgent tone, her mood indeed having changed to one without hope to someone who had found a solution for a math problem… or something like that. "… I think she knows something about Gaea. She reads tarot cards… and she has a pendant. Just like mine!"

This surprised the couple and they stared at her for a moment, a silence settling over the table before Hitomi continued on, her excitement growing. "If I could get her pendant... I could use it to get back to Gaea! I'm sure it would work!"

"But Hitomi…" Yukari bit her lip, her eyes wide. "You're assuming things. That pendant might just be a pretty stone, not one like yours. And that girl might not want to give you her necklace anyway."

"I have to try! I have to…" She lowered her eyes, the feeling of euphoria fading and doubt filling in. Maybe Yukari was right. She didn't even know Kei. And maybe the resemblance of the pendant was just her imagination.

Amano's voice filtered in. "I think you're being too cynical, Yukari. It might work. We both want Hitomi to be happy, right?" He turned to look at Kanzaki.

"Hitomi, go for it. If anything, you'll confuse an innocent girl and be embarrassed for life." He added with an amused grin.

The red-head beside him laughed slightly. "Yeah, I guess that'll work. Go for it."

Hitomi stared at both of them, looking uncertain. "You mean it?"

They both nodded. "Sure. I'll even help out." Yukari winked, giving a "peace" sign with her hand.

A grin spread along her face as Hitomi suddenly leaned across the table, pulling the two into a tight hug. "Thank you, you two! I'll see you later!" As quick as she had run in, Hitomi sprinted out again, leaving her two classmates behind to stare after in bewilderment.

"That is one… strange girl." Yukari noted, shrugging and going back to lunch.

* * *

Hitomi had been planning to find Kei but as soon as she skidded to a stop outside, Kei was gone. She blinked blankly as the bell rang "Eh…" 

So much for that idea. With a sigh, she gave up trying to find her as soon as the bell sounded, ending their lunch period. She headed back to classes, only to find that in every single one of her afternoon periods, Kei was no where in sight.

"Typical…" She muttered under her breath as she walked to track practice, holding her track shoes offhandedly with a blue-green and purple duffel bag over one shoulder. Out of habit, she lifted her hand to check her watch and what she saw caused her to stop. "Oh no, I'm late again…"

With a slight moan of fear, knowing how Yukari would berate her once more for coming in late, her friend being team manager after all, Hitomi immediately went into a sprint, dodging in between students walking home and heading out to the track field. She jumped down some stairs, flying through the air for a moment before landing and turning, running right onto the field. Yukari was already there, looking around for Hitomi, no doubt, when she spotted her. "Hitomi, you're late! Agai-"

She took a deep breath, dropping the duffel as she interrupted her. "Again, I know. I'm sorry."

As she slipped out of her sweats into blue shorts and a white shirt, she watched distractedly another group of runners start their race. Yukari was ranting in the background about her responsibilities as a manager when she paused.

"Hey Hitomi, isn't that the girl you were talking about? Kei?"

"Huh?" She blinked blankly, looking around swiftly from the ground where she was lacing up her track shoes. "Where!"

"Right there…" Yukari pointed at the group of girls running. She was right, Kei's hair was unmistakable. The teen was leading the group, her raven hair streaming behind her in a thick braid. As she finished, the other girls coming in behind her, Hamano stopped to catch her breath, holding herself up with her hands on her bent knees and finally straightening to join some other teammates, grinning and launching into a conversation that Hitomi couldn't hear from her position.

"You're right…" She stood slowly, looking surprised.

The team manager tilted her head, tapping her fingers on her clipboard. "Funny, I didn't know she did track. Oh, Hitomi, you're next." She shoved her friend forward with a grin, not as concerned about Kei as Hitomi.

"Hey!" She stumbled forward, catching herself just in time to prevent herself from falling on her face. "Yukari!"

She grinned. "Go on."

"Jerk." With a scowl, Hitomi went forward to join the line of runners, but the feeling of anger faded quickly. Yukari often did things like that and she couldn't stay mad at her for long anyway.

By now, she had fallen out of the habit to pray on her pendant for luck and simply took up the starting position on the blocks, waiting for the signal. The other girls followed her example, readying themselves.

"Ready… set …. Go!" A gun was fired, starting the race.

"C'mon, Hitomi!" Yukari moved forward from the stands, holding a stopwatch in her hand as Amano came up behind her to watch, having already run his race.

As if in slow motion, the girl pushed from the blocks and swiftly transitioned into sprinting all out, her breath coming in quick intervals.

No visions came. None had for three months, in fact. None of dragons or the Fanelian King descending from the heavens. She ran as she always did, everything else fading in the background, her mind blank. Everything set on the race, as meaningless as it was.

The finish came too soon.

"11.31! Nice work, Kanzaki!"

Hitomi grinned, taking deep breaths as Yukari cheered in the background. Ever since her return to Gaea, her times had gone down rapidly. She was the best out of the girls and results like that weren't surprising. She had hit her average for the 100 meters. The couch's next words, however, caught her off guard and sent a shiver up her spine.

"The only person who even came close today was Hamano, there. She ran an 11.87. I'd watch out if I were you, Kanzaki." With a chuckle, he turned away to call forward the next set of girls, leaving Hitomi to blink in surprise as she walked back to her two friends.

"Good job, Hitomi." The red-head beamed at her, marking down her time on the clipboard.

"Awesome." Amano grinned. "You're almost catching up to me."

Hitomi shook her head with a slightly forced smile. "No way, Amano. I'll never get to 9 seconds…"

As Amano and Yukari launched into a quiet conversation, leaving their friend to rest, Hitomi couldn't shake the odd feeling she had gotten. It wasn't that Kei's time was almost as good as hers. It was just… odd. She sighed, covering her eyes with one hand to assemble her jumbled emotions and thoughts. Still… weird feelings and premonitions aside, she had to try. She couldn't let go of that small chance there was to reach Gaea again and find out what was going on.

She looked around to find Kei, determined now to convince her to give up the pendant, but Kei was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

The rest of the week went by in a haze and Hitomi still couldn't find the time to talk to Kei. Since track practices were Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, she only saw her then and even there she couldn't get a word in. As she had been walking home Friday, Yukari reported that Kei was busy after school all week with archery club on Tuesday and Thursday. 

Finally, on Saturday morning where Hitomi had almost given up on the whole idea, her opportunity came at last.

After breakfast, while she was sitting at her desk and doing homework, erratic thunking sounds, as is something being hit into a tree, distracted her. The noise seemed oddly familiar to her. "What the…"

She poked her head out the window, looking out onto her backyard to see where the noise was coming from. Her eyes wandered over to the Hamano backyard and it was there that she got her answer.

Harakei was standing outside, equipped with bow and arrow, sending shot after shot into a thick tree, which was already beginning to resemble a pin cushion.

Hitomi watched, fascinated as almost every arrow landed in the exact same spot, or close to it.

An idea came to her head that felt like it had been sitting there for a while, waiting for its chance. Kei was alone and Hitomi could talk to her now. Bolting from her position by the window, she hurried downstairs and outside, slowing down once she reached her backyard in attempt to appear casual.

So absorbed was Kei that she didn't even notice her neighbors presence. Hitomi stopped at the edge of her own yard, waiting for Kei to let loose another arrow before calling over to her.

"Hey Kei!"

She blinked, looking over to where she heard her name when a grin spread across her features. "Hitomi, hey. You can come over, if you want."

"Oh, eh… thanks." She walked over the small bushes that acted as a fence between theproperties, going over to the grey-eyed girl, who had set down her bow.

"Long time to talk. What's up?"

"I was wondering what you had been doing. Just now." She glanced at the pin cushion tree.

Kei followed her gaze for a moment before grinning again and walking over to the tree, pulling out all the arrows easily. "Oh, that? Just practicing my archery."

"You seem to be really good at it." Now Hitomi realized why the sound had been so familiar. The use of bow and arrows were common in Gaea.

She chuckled softly, walking back to dump the arrows in a tall bucket. "I don't know about that. I just really enjoy it. Eh…" She blinked for a moment before motioning to her house. "Want to come in?"

"Huh? Oh, um… sure." Hitomi was slightly startled but the offer came off as something more out of being polite. Kei's next words confirmed this.

"I'm just thinking if my mom were out here, she'd make me say that." She laughed sheepishly, leading the way with her bow over her shoulder and carrying the bucket in both hands. She nudged the screen door open with her foot before continuing into the house.

"The parents aren't home for a while, so I've got the house to myself." Kei explained for the strange empty feeling in the residence that made the hair on the back of Hitomi's neck stand up. Her schoolmate led her upstairs to her room, which was in the exact same spot as Hitomi's was in the house over.

Hitomi Kanzaki blinked in surprise as soon as she walked in. The room screamed Japan, samurais, and swords. Along the walls were framed paintings of kabuki dancers and samurais, and at the far side of the wall hung three sheathed katanas, each looking antique and even though Hitomi knew little in the art of swords, she could tell that the katanas were beautiful.

Kei hung the bow on the wall and placed the arrow bucket beneath it before sitting down on her bed, where a laptop hummed with life. "Sit down."

She motioned towards an armchair and Hitomi sat down obligingly with a soft murmur of thanks. "So…?"

Hitomi fiddled with her fingers for a moment, staring down at them before lifting her eyes to stare into Kei's gray ones. An image of wings once again appeared before her, but, like last time, the wings were gone as soon as they had appeared.

She took a deep breath. "Kei…. I have to tell you something."

"Hmm?" She suddenly looked curious, shutting off her laptop to listen.

Like she had done so many times before, Hitomi recited her whole story from end to beginning, leaving little out. After nearly an hour, she finished. "You've got to believe me, Kei. I know it sounds like I made it up, but it really happened."

Kei had her back against the wall, her arms folded in her lap. Throughout the entire story, her cheerful face had become serious and now it was emotionless as she stared at Hitomi, her eyes piercing as if trying to look through her to see if what she had just said was true. She frowned, unclasping the pendant from around her neck. "I believe you."

Hitomi was caught off guard and her eyes widened. "You... you do?"

"Yeah, I do." She grinned slightly. "Because, you see… something tells me... inside… that what you say is true."

The green-eyed teen suddenly felt as if a weight had been lifted off her heart. Kei believed her and she felt a respect for her new friend. She smiled gratefully, feeling like crying and laughing and a hundred other things but all she could do was smile. "Thank you."

"So…" She grinned mischievously, swinging the chain on her finger. "You said you needed my help?"

* * *

End of chapter two! It's almost like a cliffhanger… except it's not! 

I believe this is the part where I ask for reviews? xD


	3. Departure

Chaaaaapptteeer… three! I'm writing as fast as possible. Then again, I'm also taking advantage of being home sick. Moving on…

* * *

"Eternity Dragons" 

Chapter Three - Departure

* * *

"So…" Kei grinned mischievously, swinging the chain on her finger. "You said you needed my help?" 

"Urgently." Hitomi nodded, glancing briefly at the swinging pendant, a thought in the back of her head registering that it was keeping perfect time. Memories would have flooded in, reminding her of what happened three months ago, but she didn't have time for that now.

"See, the other day, you saw me throwing away my tarot cards. I had a vision the night before, you see. Of Van. And he was hurt. The next morning, the cards gave me a reading and I overreacted… a little…"

Kei grinned slightly at her words before looking quizzical as she caught the swinging chain and held the necklace in her hand. "Well, what did the cards say?"

"Well… there was the death card. The tower, the ace of serpents… and it seemed to be reading Van's fate… what's wrong?"

The raven-haired girl suddenly looked startled. "All those three?"

"Yes… then the hanged man. Why?"

"Whenever I do a reading on myself… find out where my parents went… I always get those cards. Hitomi, I think you might have accidentally done a tarot reading on me."

The teen girl gasped. "But… what does it mean, then?"

Hitomi's mind was racing. If the reading was for Kei… there was still hope for Van! Maybe he wasn't dead. But then… what did the cards say for her newfound friend?

"I…" Kei looked away, looking grave. "I don't know. I don't understand it."

There was an uncomfortable silence in the room and Harakei found it unsettling. She quickly decided to change the subject. "Anyway... you were saying?"

"Eh... yes…" Hitomi continued, blurting out the rest of the words in her urgency. "You know what happened then. But the point is, I think something happened to Van and Merle. See, your pendant is just like mine and I think it came from Atlantis as well, so I wanted to know if I could use it to get back to Gaea."

Kei ran Hitomi's story over in her head for a moment, staring down at the pendant in the palm of her hand. "You're sure this is it?"

"I don't know. But I have to try… er, can I see it?"

Kei silently handed over the pendant to her schoolmate, who then held it up by the chain, closing her eyes and concentrating. Concentrate on what? She kept still, grappling for a thought when something slid in automatically, as it had in Gaea.

A hanging pendant. With nothing to think about, she simply concentrated on that. Concentrate….. concentrate….. there!

The pendant swung left, towards the door where, as if reacting to the words in Hitomi's head, a little girl unexpectedly burst through, startling the two girls. Kei sat up from her position of staring intently at Hitomi, who lowered her arm quickly to hide the pendant.

"KEEEIIII! LUNCH'S READY!"

A little girl with long, dirty blond hair stood in the doorway, screaming in an annoying voice. She blinked her bright green eyes, as if coming out of a daze when she noticed Hitomi.

"Who's that?"

Kei sighed. "Yuki, this is Hitomi. She's a friend from school. Hitomi, this is Yuki." She frowned in annoyance. "My little sister."

Hitomi nodded, smiling kindly. "Hey, Yuki."

Kei's little sister grinned widely. "Hi. Don't mind Kei there, she can be a little annoying at times." With a very obvious wink, she turned and skipped away, leaving the door open.

The older sister rolled her eyes. "My little sister, Hiroyuki. She's only ten and already has a superiority complex."

Hitomi giggled softly. "She's no better than Merle, Kei."

Merle. Yuki's interference had distracted her for a moment from the problem in Gaea. And something else.

There was a sudden knot in her stomach from excitement. The pendant! She had been right! It worked. But before Hitomi could celebrate, Kei interrupted her.

"Do you want to stay for lunch?" She smiled slightly, looking nervous.

Hitomi was jerked from her thoughts. "Lunch?" She hesitated. Did she really have time for this? Not when she had just achieved her goal. As if in protest, her stomach, already knotted, growled. Breakfast had been ages ago, after all….

"I would gladly stay, thank you." She nodded politely.

Kei looked relieved. "Great, let's go." She stood, leading the way out but pausing a second so they could walk together. "Before Hiroyuki came in… what were you doing?"

"I was testing the pendant." She uncurled her fist where she had, without noticing, been holding the necklace tightly. "It works, Kei."

Kei's eyes widened with surprise and thrill as they reached the stairs and began their descent. As soon as they did, she lowered her voice, grinning. "Are you sure?"

"Positive." Hitomi couldn't help but grin herself. Kei's happiness was addictive.

They didn't have time to talk about it once they entered the dining room, where Yuki and an older version of the blond sat. Hitomi assumed this was Kei's mother, and she was right. The older woman looked up and smiled and Kei took her seat, motioning for Hitomi to sit next to her.

"Mom, this is Hitomi Kanzaki. She's a friend from school and she also lives next door."

As Hitomi looked at the older blond, she noticed how Kei didn't look at all like her mother. She recalled Kei mentioning how she was adopted then and dropped the subject from her mind.

Hitomi nodded. "Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Hamano."

Kei's mother continued to smile. "It's a pleasure, Hitomi. So, Kei, what were you two doing up there?"

"Oh, y'know... homework…" She shrugged casually, starting to pile rice onto her plate, and then passing the bowl to Hitomi. "Oh, by the way… Mom, can Hitomi sleep over tonight?"

Hitomi looked up sharply from her food, trying not to look surprised by the question. She had already been awaiting nervously Kei's answers to her mother's questions. Grateful that she had said nothing about the pendant or Gaea, this offer was startling nevertheless.

"Oh…" Mrs. Hamano looked to each girl. "I wouldn't mind, as long as it's ok with Hitomi's parents."

Hitomi caught Kei's meaningful look and smiled quickly, nodding. "Yeah, they don't mind. Thank you for letting me stay, Mrs. Hamano."

The older woman, pleased with Hitomi's manners, smiled in a motherly way. "My pleasure, Hitomi."

* * *

"So how do you know that it's real?" 

The two girls were back in Kei's room, full of rice and noodles.

"It works like it did with my old one. I imagined the pendant in my head… and it swung in the direction of Yuki a second before she came in. It works, alright."

Kei shifted uncomfortably, glancing up at her from her laptop. "And what now?"

Now it was Hitomi's turn to look uneasy. "Well…. I was hoping you would let me borrow it, Kei. So I could go back to Gaea. I'd bring it back as soon as I could, I promise!" Her voice became pleading.

"What!" Kei looked up sharply, surprised and looking slightly irritated.

It didn't take long in those few seconds for Hitomi's head to supply self-doubt and discouragement. _I knew it. She wouldn't want me to give it to her. Yukari was right._

"You're not going without me."

"Huh!" Hitomi lifted her eyes, shocked. Maybe she hadn't heard right. "You're what?"

"I said… you're not going without me." A strange glint in her grey eyes told Hitomi that Kei was not going back on her words.

"I… Kei…" The brunette struggled for words to discourage her, but then again… why not? It was her pendant, after all…

"Are you sure?" She asked weakly, not knowing what else to say.

"Are you kidding?" She shut her laptop, grinning and standing. "Of course I am. Look." She pointed at a bookshelf, full with books of fantasy and science fiction.

"This is almost like my dream. I mean…" She pulled out a messenger bag, stuffing in her laptop. "… I have to come."

Hitomi watched her, biting her lip. She didn't see why, really.

"Alright, Kei."

Her friend stopped dead, looking startled despite her previous stubborn attitude of going whether Hitomi liked it or not.

"Seriously?"

She grinned feebly. "Really."

Before Hitomi knew what happened, Kei was hugging her and chanting thank you over and over, then she pulled away, her attitude becoming serious.

"Are we going tonight, then?"

_Good question… when are we going?_ I _still have to pack…_

"Tonight? I guess…That's why you said I was sleeping over tonight?"

"Yeah." She nodded quickly, grabbing a katana off her wall. "So do you want to go pack?"

She laughed softly. "I would, but I don't really know what."

"Well..." Kei stopped in the middle of storming around her room, a change of clothes in her hand. "You said you took your gym bag with you last time. Start there, I guess. Take everything you used from there. Plus, since you have time to actually take some things and we're not in a hurry…" She shrugged, stuffing the clothes into her bag.

"You're right." Hitomi stood slowly, and then looked down at the pendant she was still holding. Strange, she thought she had put it down… then again, with this being her only connection to Gaea, it wasn't surprising that she didn't want to let go. "Can I take this with me?

"That? Yeah…" The grey-eyed girl didn't even look up as she scoured her closet. With an amused shake of her head, Hitomi followed the same path through the house out the backdoor to her house. With each step… she got closer to Van and Gaea.

"I'm coming, Van. Just hold on."

* * *

In barely over an hour, Hitomi was back, clutching her duffel bag and looking as if she'd just run the marathon. Kei was back on her bed, typing away at her laptop. "Hey, Hitomi…" 

"H… h... hey, Kei." She sat down on the floor, taking deep breaths.

Kei blinked blankly. "You didn't have to sprint… anyway, what're you bringing?"

"Uh…" She seemed to regain her breath and glanced at the duffel. "Clothes, food. I honestly couldn't think of anything. Oh, and my track stuff."

The black-haired girl blinked once more. "Track stuff? Why?"

"It helped last time… when I needed to take my mind off things."

"Good idea." Kei proceeded to pack her track things as well into her surprisingly not full messenger bag.

Hitomi looked at it. "What are you taking?"

"Track stuff." She grinned, joking, then continued. "A spare set of clothes, my laptop tarot cards… and my katana." She pointed to the sheathed sword beside the bag.

"A weapon? I don't think you'll need it…" Hitomi's eyes widened, but Kei shook her head.

"From what I've heard, it's dangerous to be in Gaea defenseless. I'll be sort of like your body guard."

The two girls laughed softly, feeling suddenly more like friends then they had before.

Hitomi abruptly stopped laughing and lowered her eyes. "Kei, I just want to say… thank you."

"For what?"

"For coming with me. For giving me another chance to go back to Gaea."

Kei chuckled quietly, standing. "Don't mention it. Now, to get down to business… oh, wait, it's not dark yet."

Indeed, it was only mid afternoon. Hitomi followed Kei's gaze as they looked out the window, then they looked at each other. "We can still go… it'll probably cause less attention, in fact, since it's still light out…"

Kei nodded firmly, preparing herself for what was to come. "Alright… then let's go."

The two schoolgirls silently left the room, heading outside with growing feelings of apprehension and excitement. Neither knew exactly what to feel.

They didn't see Mrs. Hamano or Yuki while they went through the house. "They've gone shopping…" Kei said softly, a feeling of loss already filling in. She would miss them, she knew.

Once outside, Kei and Hitomi stood facing each other on the Hamano patio. The latter already had the pendant around her neck and she raised a hand to hold onto the pale pink ornament. "Ready?"

Kei nodded firmly. "Ready."

Hitomi unclasped the necklace and held it out. "Hold onto my hand and think about everything I told you. Imagine Gaea in your mind, wish for us to be there."

Her friend nodded, closing her eyes as she laid her hand over Hitomi.

In silence, the two prayed over the pendant, wishing to go to Gaea.

Hitomi imagined Van in her mind. _Oh, please… I wish I was back on Gaea. I wish I was with Van. Please, take me back to Gaea!_

Perhaps it was Hitomi's wishing, or Kei's strong images of how she imagined Gaea to be, but within seconds, a blue column of light shone down from the sky, surrounding the two.

Kei looked around, shocked as they started to slow rise in the air." H-Hitomi?" her voice shook with uncertainty.

"Hold on!"

In a flash, they rushed up together, flying up the beam until everything was gone. Unexpectedly, the feeling of solid ground came up beneath them before either of the two expected it, causing them to fall over into grass.

Grass? But we were just on cement…

Hitomi slowly opened her eyes, Kei already sitting up and staring up at the night sky with her mouth hanging open in shock.

Hanging like an ornament on the stars was the Earth. Beside it was Earth's Moon.

Hitomi grinned in glee as Kei couldn't force out any words.

She could hardly believe it. They were back.

* * *

Next chapters are the parts where things get interesting 


	4. Self Doubt

Yep, yep, still writing like crazy. I can't believe the beginning was as slow as it turned out. I'm not good at beginnings. Gots to get to the plot, y'know ;.; Oh, and I've been asked to thank all mah reviewers.

Sar-hah (sanjipocky)- I'm sorry about your house xD. Hehe, giddy school girls!

Macky- Yep, yep, I'm trying to continue as fast as I can

Inda- Woo, thanks for posting three times and loving teh ficcy

StarRise- I'm pretty sure everyone is worth hanging… xD Thanks for reviewing, maybe I _should_ take my time….

AvelynLauren- Heh, well, I HOPE it gets interesting… arigato!

KriegHerr- I'll try not to stop. And you'll find out soon enough

-bows gratefully- I'd give you all donuts if I had some

Onto the story… don't hold your breath xD

* * *

"Eternity Dragons" 

Chapter Four – Self-Doubt

* * *

"Is that… Earth?" Kei was sitting on her knees, staring up at the sky with an awestruck impression. 

Hitomi giggled at Kei's wonder, shifting her duffel bag as she stood. "Yeah. But get used to it being the Mystic Moon."

It was then she stared down at herself. Her school uniform was back, as was Kei's. Odd… _But_, she thought as the looked around_, at least they'll recognize me better that way… _

Kei following suit after her friend, standing. She took the time to throw the messenger bag over her shoulder and attach the sheath of her sword onto her skirt belt. Seconds later, she did a double take, noticing the same thing Hitomi had. "And why are we in our school uniforms?"

"I'm not sure…" She answered slowly, still observing their surrounding, hoping to recognize something. So far, she knew that they were in a small valley with two mountains on either side of them. Behind was a plain that went on for a while, and in front of them was darkness. It was exactly that darkness that interested Hitomi. After straining her eyes staring at something that she had been hoping were city lights, but were only reflections off a rock wall, she sighed and jogged forward a few steps towards the shadowy unknown, Kei still staring around and not noticing her friend's movements.

The few steps took the small part of the mountain out of her line of vision, which was just what she needed, and, at the same time, more moonlight seemed to flood into the small valley, removing the darker parts. Now the black emptiness that had been before them became a forest.

This sight cheered Hitomi. At least now they knew where to go… wait. This didn't seem right. She was using logic to figure out where to go. This may have been usual on Earth, where she had no pendant. The habit of using the pendant for everything had disappeared in the short amount of time she had spent home.

_Oh well… time to get used to it again._

She sighed softly, putting the pendant around her neck. She was so happy to be back… but why was this making her feel so sad? This familiar, sad feeling.

A little voice in her head answered the question.

_Because you don't want to depend on the pendant. The power it possesses brings about sorrowful things. It brought about pain. Pain to Van, pain to everyone._

_You don't want people to depend on you._

_So you can just let them use it to cause death and destruction? So you can see them find joy in the killing? In the fighting?_

All those thoughts…. Hitomi smiled sadly, recalling now the memories she had pushed away in her mind. Not everything had been perfect in Gaea after all. But she had only remembered the good things. Who wouldn't?

But now was not the time to dwell on this, she realized as Kei finally caught up to her. The girl's blue-black hair seemed to shimmer in the moonlight and her grey eyes turned to an almost white color.

Hitomi didn't notice any of this. She only felt Kei's presence as she stared with a glazed expression at the forest. Seeming to understand that Hitomi was thinking, the grey-eyed girl kept silent and continued to look around in content, drinking in the scene.

Kei trusted her. After all, it was because of her that they were even here with the pendant. Kei trusted and depended on her.

Hitomi suddenly grasped the situation she had put herself in. She was the leader now. The one supposed to know the goal and how they were to get there. And a leader had courage. Hitomi didn't have courage. Not like Van or Allen. If the time finally came for her to stand up… stand up for Kei, who trusted her, depended on her… would she be able to hold her ground?

Her hands were shaking and an empty feeling in her stomach came into comprehension as Hitomi returned to reality. She slowly raised one hand to take the pink jewel in her grip and her fingers instantly clamped around the smooth surface as they had nothing else to hold onto.

However, the girl didn't realize the expression on her face that was the result of her negative thoughts. Kei saw it and frowned in worry.

"Hitomi? Are you ok? What's wrong?

"Huh? Oh, nothing… just give me a minute…"

It was now or never.

_Don't use it! _The small voices in her head cried out. _You know what will happen if you do!_

_But I can't let down Kei. Or Van and Merle. If I don't use this… I'll let everyone down. _A firm voice fought back at the thoughts, giving Hitomi strength.

Without any more hesitations, she cleared her thoughts, imagining first the swinging pendant, then Van. A few moments passed, Kei watching her companion intently, who didn't move, keeping her eyes closed with a determined expression upon her features.

Finally complying, the image of the necklace in her head finally swung forward. Into the forest. At the same time, the real-life pendant began to glow.

"Ah… Hitomi…" Kei said in the low voice, looking back out at the plains behind them. "Hitomi…" There was a strange strain in her voice. Was it fear? Or excitement?

"We have to go that way." She quickly replied, unsure of what Kei was going on about as the pendant was tucked away under her shirt, as usual. Usual of what? It wasn't usual anymore…

"There's something out there."

Whatever calm Hitomi had managed to establish with her concentration on the pendant and finding their way was shattered with those words. "Are you… sure?"

"No. But it sounds big…" Kei's eyes were darting around, grinning slightly.

A screech that was heart-stoppingly familiar sounded not too far away. Close, in fact.

Too close.

A screech of a land dragon.

* * *

"Sir! We have received reports that two strangers from the Mystic Moon have just arrived. We believe that one is the girl named 'Hitomi'…" 

A man's voice spoke from shadows, only pale grey eyes seen, shining with a strange light resembling that of a madman's. The messenger shivered slightly at the man's reply.

"At last… the girl who awakened the dragon has returned. At last…." His voice seemed to hiss, no higher than a whisper. He spoke more to himself than to the courier. "Soon… Gaea will rise with a power I have dreamed of for years…."

The messenger jumped as the voice sharpened. "Find out who the second one is. Keep watch, but do not interfere…. Not yet. We must allow the dragon to awake once more through the power of the Mystic Moon girl…"

"Yes sir." Nodding and bowing reverently, the younger man scurried out of the room, gratified to leave.

"At last…" His voice lowered once more to a hiss. "At last… the ultimate power of Ispano and Atlantis… will be mine!"

* * *

Hitomi sucked in breath, the pendant glowing a brighter shade of pink through her shirt as the bottom of her stomach seemingly plummeted. She knew she had heard that strange shriek somewhere before. "A dragon…" She managed to whisper, her breathing constricted from fear. "We've got to go." 

Grabbing Kei's arm, she ran. After blurting out a few protests of wanting to see a dragon, Kei ran too. If Hitomi was running, albeit somewhat blindly, there was obviously a reason for it.

Suddenly, everything seemed to fall into place. Dragons, mountains, a large valley. They were in the Valley of the Dragons. And that was near…

"Van!" She gasped softly, but Kei didn't hear it past their loud breathing. The forest, to which Hitomi was heading, turned out to be farther than they thought, but just as a cry of desperation reached the pendant-carrier's throat, they were through, and they were safe.

For the moment, at least. The forest seemed peaceful enough and the screeching in the background subsided. The girls took up shelter in a small hollowed out space of a large rock that they found after a few minutes of slow walking and breathing.

Finally, after they caught their breath and the feeling of panic subsided, Kei asked, "Why were we running?"

"I told you…" Hitomi's voice was still shaking slightly. "They're evil. And dangerous."

As soon as those words came out, she regretted them. More memories came to the surface. Folken would have been saddened by those words. Dragon's weren't as cruel and wicked as most said they were, as Hitomi had learned little over three months ago. Once they sensed your terror, anger, apprehension… then they attacked. Like dogs who smelled fear. She quickly corrected herself before Kei got the wrong idea.

"No... no they're not. I've just… forgotten a bit. They seem to only attack when you're filled with hate or fear. My nerves were just a little on end… I'm sorry I scared you like that."

So much for being a leader. Panicking and running at the first sign of danger. She mentally scolded herself. _So stupid…_

"It's ok, I don't mind…" Kei shrugged, brushing back a stray hair from her face and neatly stashing it behind her ear as she turned to check that she still had everything from their mad dash.

They stayed silent for a while, consumed in their own thoughts, when Kei broke it unexpectedly with a soft laugh. "So here we are in a world that I never imagined possible... with dragons, mecha armor, and winged men. One of whom you love."

Hitomi did a double take, her tired brain at first not registering with what she said. She had never told Kei about her feelings with Van. "How did you…"

She was met with a broad grin. "I thought so. I wasn't really sure… but the way you talked about him and how your eyes told the whole story…" Seeing how Hitomi was still staring at her in shock, she smiled in apology. "I'm sorry for putting it out in the open like that."

"No… it's ok…" Hitomi lowered her eyes with a sigh, bringing a hand up to clutch at the pendant in comfort as she replied in a soft voice, "You would've found out sooner or later."

Kei continued. "Not only that, but I pretty much have no idea what is going on, besides what you told me. You said you knew where we were going, though?"

"Through the forest. And don't worry, Kei, I don't know what's going on either." She said with a slight grin, releasing the pink ornament once more.

"Oh, so I'm not supposed to worry?" She chuckled, smirking.

"Oh, right…" The two girls stared at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter. It went on for a few minutes as they both let out all their emotions into their chuckles and giggles. Finally, it died down with content sighs coming from both.

"So, where to, Hitomi Kanzaki?" Kei asked with an amused tone.

"Through this forest, Harakei Hamano." Hitomi smiled, her tone of the same nature.

Just as the two girls stood, not fully prepared for what was coming, but ready to at least walk, thunder sounded out of nowhere. They stopped dead, startled, and, naturally, quick to follow was the rain. With squeaks, Hitomi and Kei ran from their resting spot. Luck was on their side however, and before they managed to get fully soaked, a cave loomed out of the darkness. Thinking the same thing, the girls ran in unison towards it, sliding in the newly formed mud to land perfectly in the medium-sized, but thankfully dry cavern.

Breathing sighs of relief, they shifted the positions to rest against opposite sides of the cave, looking out to listen to the rain's pitter patter as a heavy downpour began.

"I guess we'll journey once the rain's over…" Hitomi said softly, somewhat regretful that they couldn't keep going.

Maybe it was a good thing to have some time to relax and sort their thoughts. Kei was probably shocked enough with the dragons and new land… Hell, even Hitomi was scared. The Valley of the Dragons at night was undeniably frightening.

* * *

Minutes passed. At least 15 had when, for the hundredth time, broke the silence. 

"Hitomi, I…"

But before she could get another word, a lightly furred hand wrapped around her mouth, as well as Hitomi's and now they could sense a presence behind them, and this person… was _growling_?

A fire sparked in the back of the cave, flooding the cavern with light. Hitomi dared a glance at who their captor was and gasped, pulling the hand off to throw her arms around the fuzzy person.

"Ruhm!" She cried gratefully.

Both the wolf-man and Kei were shocked, but Ruhm was the first to recover, growling in joy and holding the grinning Hitomi out at arms length to get a better look at her.

"Why, Miss Hitomi! You scared me for a moment there… back from the Mystic Moon already?"

"Yes, Ruhm, I'm back."

"And I see you brought a friend with you!" He let go off Hitomi's shoulders to look at Kei, who was still blinking blankly, not as shocked about seeing a half man, half wolf creature as Hitomi would have expected. As soon as her presence was noticed, she smiled shyly. Hitomi quickly went around introductions, glad that her friend was taking this well.

"Ruhm, this is Kei. Kei, Ruhm. Don't worry, he's a friend of Van's."

"This is Olden, by the way…" Ruhm added, pointing to a similar wolf-man in the back, explaining who had lit the fire. Olden waved from an appetizing smelling cauldron and grinned fang-like. He seemed to be quite young compared to his companion.

The two girls politely nodded to Olden before Ruhm pulled them closer to the fire, looking excited. "So why are you two, of all places, in the Valley?"

Kei settled back to listen while Hitomi took up the role of explaining. "We just appeared here."

"So you've just arrived?" Ruhm's eyes widened slightly as the other wolfman passed two bowls of soup to Kei and Hitomi.

"Yes, no more than an hour ago. Ruhm…" She grew serious and couldn't keep the pleading out of her voice, not even paying attention as she took the soup. "… will you take us back to Fanelia tomorrow, once the rain stops?"

The wolfman chuckled softly. "I was just about to suggest that. Of course I will, Miss Hitomi. I owe you that much. For now, you should eat and rest."

The two girls dug into their soups with appreciative thanks. Since there were no spoons, they simply sipped from the earthenware bowl. It was delicious. Kei found the taste unfamiliar but very warming and tasty.

They were done soon enough, and despite Hitomi's plan to talk to Ruhm about what happened the last three months she was away, the past event's toll on her and the satisfied, warm feeling in her stomach prevented her from staying awake for long. Resting her head on her duffel bag, Kei on her messenger bag, the two girls fell asleep in seconds, leaving the two wolf-men to talk quietly at the back of the cave.

That night, Hitomi dreamed again of the black Escaflowne and a burning Earth. The same vision from almost a week ago. At the end, just as she was to be consumed by the flames, she woke up with a gasp to find the whole cave quiet, and, after breathing deeply to slow down her beating, frenzied heart, she quickly fell back against her make-shift pillow and let more peaceful dreams wash over her.

* * *

Ooo, deep, thoughtful chapter. At least, to me. Yeah, yeah, about time I introduced the enemy. I'm sorry, I actually almost forgot to write about that xD…. 

This is my longest chapter yet, if only by a paragraph. Keep reading and reviewing, please! Reviews make me happy -grin-


	5. Broken Wings

So here's Chapter Five. I'm updating, as usual, as fast as humanly possible…. considering school… and the need to sleep, eat, and watch anime. Thanks again for all the reviews. I'll consider all of your suggestions.

As for Kei. I know most of you have been wondering about the image of wings Hitomi was seeing and why she has a pendant. I'll answer everything in the best way I can through the next few chapters. It's a bit difficult, though, because the answers are a major part of the plot… heh.

This chapter will concentrate a bit more on Kei's point of view. And you have to keep in mind that Kei knows quite a lot from Hitomi's explanation…

Anyhoo…

* * *

"Eternity Dragons" 

Chapter Five – Broken Wings

* * *

The group consisting of two Mystic Moon inhabitants and two wolf men woke early the next day. On other words, Kei and Hitomi were dragged out of the cozy cave before the sun had even risen. 

Kei yawned, tiredly rubbing sleep from her eyes as she and Hitomi stumbled along a dirt path through the forest. Kei had already once walked into a bush before she had been yawning and stretching at the same time.

Thankfully, the rain had stopped. The ground was still damp, along with everything else in the woods.

She really was not in the mood to walk anywhere this early in the morning. They hadn't even had breakfast yet and already, the hot soup seemed ages ago. The gray eyed girl didn't want to nag or complain, though. To seem weak in front of her new friend and two strangers, kind as they were, was not something Kei wanted to happen. As she yawned once more, her watch beeped, showing that it was 5:00 PM back on Earth. Seemed like there was about 12 hour's difference between the two worlds.

The four trudged along the narrow path through the rain-soaked, peacefully quiet forest. Ruhm led the way up front with Hitomi, then Kei, and Olden followed closely in the rear.

Harakei took the time to observe her surroundings and collect her thoughts. Shifting the soggy messenger bag that hung from her shoulder, she looked down briefly at her hips to see that the katana was safely secured. Satisfied, she went back to drinking in the sights around her.

It was still dark and because of the thick mass of trees and plant life, even if the sun had begun to rise, she wouldn't have been able to tell. The forest itself was quiet, almost as if asleep. The only sounds heard were the distant chuckling and gurgling of streams they passed by. That, and the soft thuds of their feet hitting the softened earth.

Still… it didn't seem like another world. Despite the sights of Earth in the sky and her near encounter with a dragon… and the fact that they were being led to Fanelia by two wolf men…

Kei brushed back some strands of hair that had fallen out of her neat braid. _Gonna have to re-do that…. Hair's probably a mess_.

Not only that, but due to the panicked run through the forest, where they had been fleeing the dragon, her uniform had been inflicted with several rips. Some cuts along her legs had suffered from the same treatment and it appeared that Hitomi didn't look any better. Maybe it they had been watching where they had been going, she and Hitomi wouldn't have gotten those rips and scrapes. After all, Hitomi had said later that they really shouldn't have fled like that. _No, _she_ shouldn't have… I wasn't scared of that dragon at all… _

Never mind. Cuts would heal, rips could be repaired. What was she being so harsh on Hitomi for, anyway? There were here for her, after all. Hitomi had known how to use the pendant, knew the land, knew the people… Kei didn't know anything. This was all new to her.

But then, why did it all seem familiar to her?

Hitomi, meanwhile, walked next to Ruhm, busy with catching up on what had happened for the past three months on Gaea while she had been away.

"How is Fanelia?" She kept up with Ruhm's steady strides easily.

"Rebuilding nicely. Most of the homes have been rebuilt and the royal castle is almost complete. It's made quite a turnaround."

"And Zaibach?" Zaibach had been the main enemy in the Gaean War.

"Mostly turned around and rebuilding, as well. Almost everything concerning Dornkirk has been wiped out." Ruhm glanced down at Hitomi before looking forward again.

Dornkirk. An enemy truly evil. A human from the Mystic Moon who had originally been called Isaac, and Hitomi had a strange feeling that it was Isaac Newton, but she could never prove that fact. Dornkirk had been killed by Van's brother, Folken, who in turn died by his own sword tip.

The last few weeks of Hitomi's stay in Gaea hadn't been pleasant. The war had reached full force, dragging all the countries into it, along with man, who, at the time, she thought was her love, Allen Schezar. That thought brought up another question.

"What about Asturia? Princess Millerna?"

"Queen Millerna, now."

"Eh?" She blinked in surprise.

"Aye." Ruhm chuckled at her surprise. "Her father stepped down."

"What about Eries?"

"From what I heard, she didn't want it."

"I see…" Millerna and she had become friends, and she naturally worried about her welfare. _Wonder if she met up with Dryden again…_ There was a twinge of shame with that reflection. She had tried to match the two together with her tarot cards for her own selfish reason. So Allen could not go back to Millerna and stay with her. She ignored these thoughts and kept up with her questions.

"And uh…" Hitomi bit her lip, coming to the question she had been fearful to ask. "… and Van? How's he?"

"Last I saw him was two weeks ago… I've been out for a while, Miss Hitomi. I'm sorry. I wouldn't even be here at all… if not for Olden getting lost and me having to come after him." He grinned slightly as Olden frowned at the words.

"Oh… ok…" Two weeks was a long time. The vision had been almost a week ago and she hadn't seen anything else. This caused her to worry even more. Thanking Ruhm, Hitomi moved back to walk next to Kei.

Green eyes met gray as the two girls looked at each other, muttering soft greetings before going back into silence.

"Y'know..." Kei was, as usual, the first to break the silence. "I didn't tell my mom anything about where I went… she might worry."

"Then she'll come to my mom, and she'll explain everything."

"Huh?" Kei blinked in surprise, looking at the girl next to her. "You mom knows about this?"

"How else could I explain my long absence? And besides… my grandma told her about it, as well."

"Wow. Well, did you tell anything to your mom before you left?"

She flushed slightly. "No. I was too nervous packing… I left a note, though, so I hope she'll understand."

Kei nodded, the knot in her stomach relaxing somewhat from the nervous feeling she had gotten as soon as she had brought up that question. Would her family understand? She should've left a note, too. Hopefully, they would be able to accept Hitomi's mother's story as easily as Kei had believed Hitomi. Although Yuki might bring up come difficulties…

"Hey Hitomi, what exactly do you do with the pendant? How do you foresee the future?" Kei asked, abruptly changing the subject.

The pendant carrier was slightly startled by the question, but then smiled and pulled out the pendant from underneath her shirt.

"It's easy. I tried to teach Van before, and he eventually got it in time."

Hitomi unclasped the necklace and held it out so both of them could see.

"You imagine the pendant in your mind, then concentrate on what you want to find… such as, say, where Olden is."

"But we know where he is…" Kei said slowly, glancing back at the wolf man.

"Tell him to move somewhere else for me."

Hitomi closed her eyes, still walking. It was a bit harder to concentrate while constantly moving forward. Especially since she hadn't done this in a while, but she was fairly confident.

Kei, meanwhile, silently motion for Olden to walk to the left. Having heard part of their conversation, he wordlessly shuffled to the right, off the path into the forest. However, his padded feet made no noise.

Hitomi imagined Olden in her mind, all the while the image of the pink stone hanging from it's chain in the background. Soon enough, the pendant swung left. Without opening her eyes, Hitomi pointed in that direction with her free hand.

"There!"

Kei's eyes widened with astonishment. "Wow. You're right."

Kanzaki smiled and handed the pendant to Kei. "It's nothing. Here, you try. Just concentrate on Olden, imagine him in your mind clearly, and keep your eyes closed."

The raven-haired girl obediently shut her eyelids, mimicking Hitomi and holding out the pendant. An image of Olden bubbled into her head, as well as visualization of the necklace while Hitomi gestured for the wolf man to return to his original position, which he did so unquestioningly.

A minute passed, Kei still stubbornly keeping her position as she walked. _C'mon… concentrate… _She thought firmly about Olden, when finally the still pendant yielded and swing back.

"Behind us?" She asked slowly, opening one eye.

In the rear, Olden chuckled softly. "You caught on quick…"

"Really? I'm right?" Both eyes shot open as she looked back. Sure enough, there was the young Gaean native, grinning fangishly.

"Good job, you learned really quickly." Hitomi smiled proudly.

"Thanks. It took longer for me, though." She beamed with pleasure, handing back the pendant.

"No worries, it was only your first try, after all…" The brunette replied in an encouraging voice, returning the necklace to the original position around her neck. "I'll give this back to you, by the way. Once I get mine from Van…"

"Alright." Kei nodded, falling silent once more. She paused for a moment before realizing just how curious she was about all of this.

"So tell me more about this Allen person…"

"Well…"

* * *

An hour later, the forest finally ended. The group emerged, just in time for the sunrise and a spectacular view of Fanelia, as they were now directly behind it. The sun was just rising, filling the whole valley with morning light. 

They now stood atop of the wall of mountain rock that had shielded Fanelia faithfully for years. Another forest lay below far them them, which slowly grew down the angled rock wall to the rebuilt Fanelian Castle. Then, below that was the actual city, looking much better than how it had looked when Hitomi had left it.

Kei and Hitomi stood in awe. The view was breathtaking, but the two wolf men shrugged it off and instead went looking for something at the edge of the cliff.

Shifting their bags, the girls cautiously approached the edge as well. Hitomi looked around. "How are we getting down?"

"Well…" Ruhm said as he straightened, beginning his explanation when what he saw stopped him dead.

Kei had lost her footing on the slick, rain-dampened rock, and was currently tumbling over the edge off the cliff, screaming.

Time seemed to slow down. Hitomi watched in distress as her friend's body fell farther and farther down. Her mind somehow shut down, but thoughts began buzzing through like lightning soon enough. _Kei is falling. Van. Van has wings. We need Van. Van!_

If she hadn't been busy with Kei's plummet, she would have noticed that the pendant had began to glow bright pink as she clutched at it out of habit. Her anxious wishes seemed to summon a part of Van. The tear-shaped stone's light filtered through her fingers as it glowed to the point of blinding color.

To everyone's shock, including Kei's, angelic, pure white wings burst from her back. Feathers filled the air, and Hitomi didn't need to blink or rub her eyes to convince herself that it wasn't an illusion. Instinct told her it was real. All she had to do was listen to her frantic heartbeat, which seemed to have blocked out her hearing.

Kei had fallen too far and too fast to manage to pull herself out of there on her new wings. It didn't seem to matter, as it seemed that Kei didn't know how to use the natural flying instruments anyway. The white Draconian wings instead slowed her fall. She floated down gently before proceeding to collapse slowly into the forest below.

A silence would have followed, if not for the cloud of birds that erupted from the place where Kei fell. They flew past the remaining three on top, chattering in irritation. A cloud of feathers hovered in the air until both the birds and the feathers fluttered away, whisked away by the light breeze.

After a moment of staring, Ruhm sighed and began leading the way down a hidden set of stairs carved into the rock wall. "Well, that's one way to go down."

* * *

After 10 minutes of cautiously walking down the slick steps, they reached solid ground and the edge of the Fanelian forest. Hitomi, Ruhm, and Olden hurriedly went in, calling Kei's name. 

It was easy to find her. They followed the trail of feathers until, finally, their quarry was located stuck in a tree, her wings spread out behind her in an uncomfortable position. At least, it seemed uncomfortable to Hitomi, who went up to the girl. One wing, in particular, was set in an odd position. The grey-eyed schoolgirl was lucky, though. She had landed in a steady tree with little protruding twigs that would have ripped her wings and her skin to bits. However, it was obvious that something was wrong with the right wing, and there were more cuts on her arms and legs than before. Besides that, Kei looked fine. Her mind had been tempted to think "alive", but she had held back.

Ruhm approached the tree as well, looking up at the winged Mystic Moon inhabitant above them.

"Let's get her down. We need to get her to King Van."

Olden and Ruhm, working together, managed to carefully free Harakei and lower her to the ground. She appeared unconscious and, sure enough, after quick examination from the older wolf man, it was confirmed that her wing was broken. Ruhm gently hoisted up Kei in his strong, furred arms, with the broken wing extending past his shoulder. The undamaged, feathery twin was carefully folded forward to cover Kei's now shivering body.

Hitomi looked near tears, gazing down at her schoolmate's strongly calm face, then noticed that the wolf men had left something behind in the tree. Not even knowing how much it would probably mean to Kei, she doubled back and unhooked the messenger bag from a branch. As soon as her fingers made contact, an unexpected vision obscured her sight.

_Merle was strapped to a strange platform with runes etched into it, crying for Van and desperately trying to free herself. "No! Lord Van! Lord Vaaaaann!"_

_Hitomi tried to run forward, but something kept her from moving. Looking down, a hand was latched firmly onto her ankle. A woman, blood pouring from a head wound, weakly handed up a wrapped burden to the shocked girl. "Please… help her…"_

_To her shock, the burden turned out to be a confused infant, enfolded tightly in a blanket. The baby blinked grey eyes at her, and gurgled in curiosity. Before she knew what she was doing, Hitomi was clutching at the child and sobbing. Tears slowly poured down her cheeks as the woman lying before her fell silent and limp. _

_Once again, as with every vision, it burned. But why? Hitomi thought, looking around through the ocean of salty water in her eyes. Why fire? _

_She found herself staring into intense grey orbs. The child in her eyes began to cry unexpectedly. Those eyes. She had seen them before. "Who… are you?"_

"_Release the dragon, pendant bearer. It is… your destiny." The eyes blazed once more before fading._

"_What? No!"_

Her own cry brought her back to reality and Hitomi found herself clutching at Kei's bag as she had held the infant.

"What…" She stared thoughtfully at the tree. "What happened? Merle…"

"Miss Hitomi! Come on!" Ruhm's voice interrupted her musings.

"Coming!" Still perplexed, Hitomi jogged after the two wolf men.

In ten minutes, they entered a familiar clearing. The gravesites of Van's father, Goau, and the guymelef Escaflowne. The mecha was a dull color of lifeless gray. _Not like those eyes. Those had so much life in them. So much hatred. And evil._ Shivering at the sight of melef, she followed after Ruhm and Olden hurriedly along a path completely out of the woods. Almost frazzled with worry, Hitomi let her mind rest for a moment to realize where they were.

They were where Van was. Rebuilt Fanelia. The people had returned after the attack from Zaibach, breathed life into their ravaged homeland, and returned it to it's former beauty.

The two guides seemed to know where they were going as they walked up to what could have been called the backdoor of the castle. Olden grinned as Ruhm knocked. "We come through here often, when we need emergency supplies or anything."

Hitomi peered curiously around Olden to the door as it opened. Before them stood a fierce looking, heavily built man with light brown sideburns and mildly spiked, also light brown hair. He glared down at Ruhm for a moment, as Ruhm did back, before the two grinned.

"Ruhm, how are you?"

"Fine, Sochran, just fine. We need some help…" He nodded to the still unconscious girl in his arms.

Sochran did a double take, glancing first at her clothes, then at her wings. He furrowed his brow with worry, but nodded. "Alright. Follow me." He turned and led the way inside the castle, with the party of three following after him.

They seemed to be going along a secret passage, or, Hitomi considered, an emergency exit. No one was along the corridor. If they hadn't been going at such a quick pace, they would have been able to acknowledge the paintings of previous Fanelian kings and Queens. Hitomi might have even seen the newly painted portraits of Van and Folken. But she didn't have time for that. They continued to follow after Sochran and attempt to keep up with his wide, determined strides.

However, it turned out that Sochran couldn't keep the four strangers out of sight for long and they soon emerged out onto another corridor, more populated. Men obviously still working on parts of the castle and some maids who were busy cleaning stopped dead as they watched the group go by. The sight of a draconian, two wolf men, and the legendary Hitomi Kanzaki, girl from the mystic moon, was too much for them all to take in. So they simply stared.

As Sochran led them to an empty room where Kei could rest and get her wing checked on, unbeknownst to the five of them, the rumors and whispers spread like wildfire.

The girl from the Mystic Moon was back. There was a Draconian with her. Hitomi Kanzaki had returned.

Ruhm carefully laid Kei down on the large bed in what seemed like a guest room. Her wings automatically moved to spread out behind her, but a grimace of pain swiftly crossed her face as the broken wing moved as well. Thinking quickly, Olden pulled up the bedside table so that the wing could rest on that. The other hung over the bed and spread along the room. Still, she didn't wake up.

Hitomi sat down on the bed by her friend, taking her limp but thankfully warm hand in hers before looking up at Sochran, who was speaking again.

"I'll get a doctor soon. Until then, the girl should rest here. Miss Hitomi?"

"Yes?" said Hitomi, blinking in surprise on how Sochran knew her.

"There are rooms along this corridor for guests, so feel free to use one at anytime. As I'm assuming that Ruhm and Olden aren't staying?" He looked at the pair of wolf men questioningly.

Ruhm nodded. "Yes, we must be going. Good luck, Miss Hitomi. Tell Miss Kei I said goodbye as well."

"Me too!" Olden piped in.

Hitomi stood, giving both of the wolf men hugs. Her voice was filled with held back emotion. "Thank you so much. If it wasn't for you, we would still be lost in the forest. Good luck to you as well."

The wolf men were slightly startled by Hitomi's way of thanks, but smiled anyway before they left. Sochran nodded.

"A doctor will be up soon. Do you require anything?"

Hitomi sat back down again. "No, but thank you. I think I'll stay here a while."

Then Sochran, too, left. Hitomi gazed down at Kei's calm face. In the back of her mind, she wondered why she hadn't asked for Van. Maybe it was the strange feeling of anger and worry that seemed to be lingering in the air in the castle and around Sochran.

But for now, her first priority was Kei, and she wouldn't leave her until those eyes opened once more to show that she was fine.

"C'mon, Kei… hang in there."

* * *

"Sir, you called for me?" 

"Ye-es…" The voice hissed from the shadows. "The girl from the Mystic Moon has been informed of what she must do. Have the operations been successful?"

The messenger saluted. "Yes, sir."

"All of them?"

"Yes, sir."

The grey-eyed, shadowed man hissed with approval. "Good. Send out the four of them tonight. Make sure that the dragon and the girl are taken alive. The female who accompanies the girl. You may eliminate her."

"Understood, sir." The courier saluted before turning on his heel, out of the eerie, dark room. As the door closed behind him, he could hear triumphant, low laughter that, for some reason, struck him cold. He quickly hurried away from the door. Somehow, a happy master was more frightening than an angry one.

* * *

So, there it is. Longest chapter so far… No idea when Chapter 6'll be posted. This actually took me longer than I thought. Ah, and just so you know, Sochran is pronounced "Sock-rahn". Yup yup. 

Right. Until next time. Which will finally... FINALLY… have Van. Sorry for the delay, I know that's what everyone waits for -nervous laughter-


	6. Fulfilled Longing

Now that it's the weekend… I have time to actually write up this chapter. Plus, schoolwork has gone down to a minimal. Or maybe I'm just avoiding it too much…

Hmm. In any case, yes, Kei is a draconian. As you all knew. No doubt. But -gasp- what is her relation with Gaea? You'll find out. If you review, that is.

Nah, just kidding. I'll keep writing, reviews or no. But thank you for them anyway!

* * *

"Eternity Dragons" 

Chapter Six – Fulfilled Longing

_

* * *

Falling. The sky above as there is nothing below me. I'm falling. Hitomi has such a funny look on her face. Then again… I'm about to die. _

_A pink light… just as the fact that I'm about to die comes into focus… a pink light blinks up on the ridge… like a distant star. Sheesh, talking in poetry now? You really _are _dying._

_A strangely familiar feeling fills me. A sensation buzzes down my spine as, out of nowhere, white feathers appear around me. Where did those come from…? _

_A voice answers. A voice that, I had a strange feeling, caused those feathers. It says… your wings, Harakei. Use your wings. _

_My… wings? I continue falling, the ground coming ever close as my wings spread out behind me, slowing the speed at which I plummeted. Then the sky, the feathers, all was extinguished as, like a dying bird, I fell, my wings useless to me. Then all was black._

Kei groaned, a strange, yet powerful smell filling her nose. She cautiously opened her orbs of grey, fearful of returning to that awful dream she had of falling. Falling! She yelped, sitting up with wide eyes and looking around just as a hand holding smelling salts moved away.

"Falling!… falling…"

"Kei! Calm down!" Hitomi's green eyes appeared out of nowhere, looking alarmed. "Just relax… you're safe now."

"Eh…" She slowly sat back against what felt like pillows and winced sharply. There was an intense pain in a strange part of her body. There had never been pain there before…

Whimpering softly, she turned slowly to see a pair of white wings extending from her back. One was on the floor, having such a wide wingspan. The other was spread out along a table and just the sight of it made her cringe. This was obviously the cause of her pain. Shifting her legs on the bed that she was sitting up on, Kei tiredly rested her head against the headboard, before she winced once more. There was an immense lump on the back of her skull.

"Hitomi… what happened?"Her grey eyes looked intently at the girl sitting on the edge of the bed while a man in the background went forward to inspect her wing. "Why… what…?"

"Kei… you fell off the ridge, remember?" Hitomi's voice shook slightly. She had been forced to endure 20 minutes of watching her friend struggle with nightmares she refused to wake from. Finally, the doctor had come. And, finally, Kei had awoken.

"That… I remember that. Then what?"

"Then you sprouted wings. Kei, I had seen your wings before. In visions. Like the first time I met you…"

The pale eyes widened. "You… you knew?"

"Oh, no… I had no idea." Hitomi hurriedly shook her head. "Anyway… then you fell into the woods. Ruhm took you to Fanelia. That's where you are, now…"

"And my wing is broken?" She winced slightly as the doctor continued to poke at her wing.

"So it would seem." The Fanelian doctor nodded, looking at Kei with a very serious expression. "I really don't know what to do about that, but I can dress your wounds and that bump on your head."

Kei looked down at herself. The Kamakura Kita school uniform was so ripped, there was little hope for that. What turned out to be more serious were the deep scratches along her arm and legs, which were covered with dry blood. Shuddering, she lay back on the pillows once more. "Alright… thank you. Hey, Hitomi?"

"Hmm? Yeah?" Hitomi seemed startled by the sudden calm in Kei's voice.

"You look exhausted. You should go get some rest, don't worry about me." She even managed a weak smile over the bent back of the doctor, who had begun wrapping her arm wounds.

"But…"

"Or, even better, you could go find Van."

Flushing, Hitomi turned, grabbing her duffel bag. "Alright, no need to tease. Jerk."

Chuckling softly, Kei sighed and stared out of the window to her right. Fanelia. So this was it?

Hitomi went to the room next door, smiling softly. It looked like the room she had been in the first time she came to Fanelia. Seemed like ages ago…

She sighed, dumping the duffel on the floor and collapsing on the bed. Kei was right. She was exhausted. In minutes, she was sleeping peacefully in the same position she had fallen.

* * *

The rumors spread at lightning speed, advancing beyond the castle to the whole city. Only then… almost an hour after the two girl had arrived, the news reached the King of Fanelia. Van Fanel. 

For the last three months, he had been a firm leader of his recovering country. Most of the homes were rebuilt first, the castle saved for last. But his people had built the royal castle in record time, as eager as they were. Everything had been going smoothly. The rest of Gaea had been adjusting well to the new life. No more wars had broken out.

He saw Hitomi whenever he needed in a vision, as promised. The pendant had stayed silent, and Escaflowne was never used. Then, a week ago…

The news of Hitomi's arrival caught him while he had been assisting with the organization of the new school for Fanelia. A girl had run up to him, grinning widely. "Lord Van, sir, the girl from the Mystic Moon is back!"

"What?" He had stopped dead, staring at her in surprise.

"She's back! And they say that a draconian is with her up in the castle now!"

Without another word, Van had nodded goodbye to the three men he had been working with and took off sprinting to the castle. _Hitomi… are you really back?_

He ran through the newly built halls, still keeping up his fast-paced run as he dodged around workers and maids, taking steps three at a time, before bursting into the first guest room. "Hitomi?"

"Huh?" Grey eyes blinked back, piercing through his auburn ones.

Van stood awkwardly in the doorway, a strange, black-haired girl with draconian wings spread out behind her staring at him as he stared back.

"Who… are you?" He managed to stutter out in the best king-like voice possible as he stared at her wings.

"I'm Kei…" She was the first to regain herself and grinned. She was looking much better. The jacket to her uniform was thrown over the back of a chair and the sleeves of her blouse rolled up, showing the multiple bandages. A bandage was wrapped around her head as well. "… you must be Van."

"How do you know my name?" His eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"Hitomi told me all about you." She smiled weakly.

"Hitomi?" The fierce look disappeared instantly at the mention of her name. "You know Hitomi?" Now that he thought about it, her clothes looked exactly like Hitomi's, if not a little worse for wear.

"We're school friends. We just got here after some vision she had. But she can explain all of it to you. She's next door…"

Next door. She's next door. He turned to go, but was stopped by the girl's voice again. "Van!"

"What?" He paused, glancing back.

"She's missed you a lot. Don't do anything stupid."

He frowned slightly before nodding and closing the door. Next door… he slowly walked to the room over, and even more slowly opened the door. "Hitomi?"

He froze in the doorway once more, his breath caught in his chest as he saw the girl that his dreams had been about for the past three months. There was no reply, as she was asleep. He moved forward, calling her name softly. "Hitomi…"

His voice broke through her slumber, causing her to slowly open her eyes. "Van…?"

"Hitomi." He stood over her, suddenly unsure. That girl said she had missed him. But were her feelings the same? Did she still…

"Van!" The emerald orbs widened from their half-open, sleepy eyed state. She automatically sat up and threw her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder. "Oh Van…. I've missed you so much…"

He sat down on the edge of the bed, enfolding Hitomi gratefully in his arms as his doubt faded away. "Hitomi…"

Hitomi held onto him tightly, not wanting to let go. "I was so worried. I thought you were… but you're not, and I'm so glad… oh, Van…" She murmured. As she took a deep breath, she felt Van wince. Pulling back, she looked at him in concern. "What's wrong, Van?"

His brown eyes stared into hers for a moment. The two stared at one another, comparing their memory of each other to the person they were holding onto now.

Van had grown, even in that three months time. Both physically and mentally. He had an air… of maturity about him that had not been there before. Same unruly raven hair, though… Then her eyes traveled to the bandage around his head, along with the cloth wrapped around his shoulder that could be seen going past his usual red shirt, then back to where her old pendant glimmered from where it hung from his neck. "Van?" There was a slight shake to her voice.

He noticed her staring at his wounds and shook his head slowly, looking down slightly to avoid her eyes. "It's nothing…"

But Hitomi… she seemed to have grown so much. Her honey-brown hair had grown already to her shoulders, framing her face neatly. Her clothes were the same, however. But why did she look so worried? Like she has too much on her shoulders.

"Van, tell me what happened." Her gaze was piercing, a mixture of concern and urgency.

"Hitomi, I..." He hesitated, slowly looking up at her once more. She seemed to know that something was wrong. About what happened a week ago… He would have pulled back his arms to properly look at her, but didn't want to let go of her. So, instead, he went into explanation, his deep, soft voice never faltering.

"A few days ago, the castle was attacked in the middle of the night. I went to fight them, but they overpowered me. They got me here…" He took one hand away from her waist to lay his hand over his shoulder, explaining why he had winced in their embrace.

The images of her first, frightening visions… she could see them even as she looked into Van's serious face. The pool of blood… and then… "Then they knocked you out."

He blinked for a moment, lowering his arm to return it to the green-eyed girl's waist, before saying, "How … did you know?"

"I…" Now it was Hitomi's turn to look away. "I had a vision. About a week ago. You… wait! Merle… what happened to Merle, Van?" She looked back at him, her eyes widening.

"They took Merle. I don't know why or where… we've been sending out search parties, and I was planning on leaving to look for her soon."

"Van…" She bit her lip, sensing his pain. She looked away, but quickly turned back at the strange tone of his voice.

"I didn't think… you would come back, Hitomi." He was smiling warmly, ever gently pulling her closer.

"I had to come back… I came back for you." Was it just her, or were their faces getting closer? "I had to come back…"

But you came back with Kei, remember? _Kei… oh no, Kei!_

Before she could pull away, or speak another word, her lips were closed off by Van's. A lifting sensation filled her as the feeling of affection seemed to last forever, and yet was over so soon. She hadn't been surprised, and it was that fact that caught her off guard. But then again, hadn't she regretted that past week, on how their farewell had only been an embrace? Albeit a painful and emotional one

Slowly, Van pulled away, but Hitomi quickly threw her arms around him with a soft sigh, blushing. "I've missed you so much."

He chuckled softly, "I've missed you too, Hitomi."

They stayed that way for a long time, holding onto each other, but soon enough, Hitomi reluctantly pulled away. "You have to help Kei, Van. Her wing… it's broken."

"Ah yes… her." He smiled slightly, standing and helping Hitomi up.

"Oh? You met her already?" She blinked, noticing that the hand Van had extended to Hitomi hadn't let go of her own, but, once she thought about it, she didn't mind.

"Yes, it seems I did." He opened the door, leading the way out to Kei's room. He turned the handle and they walked in.

The wounded one was perfectly fine, it seemed, as she now sat with her laptop on her knees, typing away. She blinked, glancing up at the door. "Oh, hey Hitomi… Van."

Grinning and shaking her head, she pulled up a seat next to the bed, slowly releasing Van's hand. "You're feeling better, I see?"

The black-haired girl looked up from the computer screen. "I said I would be, Hitomi... you worry too much. Can you believe there's no internet here?" She grinned, going back to typing as Van stood by, confused as he stared at the laptop computer. It was almost as perplexing as the wings that Kei still had spread out.

"So… can Van fix my wing? I mean, he's like me, right?" Kei looked from the Fanelian King to her schoolmate. "Because… the back of my shirt is ripped… and I can't put on another one…"

Hitomi blinked, turning back to look at the boy who she was still overjoyed to see. "Van?"

He moved forward to the propped up Draconian wing. "My mother taught me a few things, I'll see what I can do."

Kei watched in interest as Van closely inspected the feathered Draconian trade mark. Then, he gingerly took it in his hands and snapped a part that had been bent back into place with a sickening click. Kei grunted and grimaced in pain. "Could've warned me…"

He ignored her grumblings. "You can fold them back now. Just let them heal."

"Oh, well… thank you." She grinned, the wings collapsing behind her and disappearing with another flurry of feathers.

"Now…" Van sat down in another chair, looking to both of the girls. "Looks like you two have a story to tell."

* * *

I was mildly surprised to have this as a rather short chapter, but … the next chapter will be longer, with the "four" being sent... not to mention Hitomi's and Kei's explanation. So... until next time! 


	7. Awakening

Oi… long time no update -cringe- I had been planning to write this chapter at least two weeks ago, but all that durn school work got in the way…

And, er… thanks for the reviews! Lay down on the spazzing, Emily. Really. Anyone else, feel free to leave me any advice, anything you think might be better for the story. Usual stuff.

This is probably my favorite chapter so far. I really don't know why…

Anyway, this is a bit longer than the others, as promised, so enjoy.

* * *

Eternity Dragons 

Chapter Seven – "Awakening"

* * *

As requested, here's a flashback to what has happened so far. 

Hitomi has met up with Kei, and both have traveled to Gaea with the help of Kei's pendant. They found that they were in the Valley of the Dragons, near Fanelia. After being reunited with Ruhm and another wolf man, Olden, the four of them traveled to the reconstructing Fanelia. Before they even managed to reach their destination, Kei fell from the cliff overlooking the city, and her secret was revealed. Kei was a draconian. They quickly hurried Kei and her broken wing to the royal castle, where Ruhm and Olden took their leave. Hitomi and Van were reunited with some concerns over the problems in the castle concerning Merle, and now it's time for Kei and Hitomi to explain to Van just what was going on…. Meanwhile….

* * *

Four guymelefs were nestled in the cliffs above Fanelia, their pilots languidly stretching out on the warm rock and soaking in the sun. Four cat women, just like Naria and Eria, were purring softly, and they seemed to be waiting for something. 

"Oh, how long do we have to hang around here…?" One, colored pale grey with short auburn hair, gently whined, blinking her overly large orbs that matched her fur. She sat up leisurely, observing the way the sunlight shone off her rich pelt.

"Be patient, Skylar…" Another replied, sighing softly.

The one named Skylar pouted slightly, glancing down at Fanelia briefly. "But for how long, Aelis?"

The other cat woman, completely white in color, slowly sat up. Aelis's startling red eyes, which matched the tips of her long white hair, observed the sun position for a moment before looking back at her companion. "A few more hours, at the least."

"Until darkness falls. That is what master said. Until the black of night can disguise our actions." The third cat woman, Jetta, replied in a dull, cold tone. The other two looked at her with blank expressions, used to this kind of attitude from the pure ebony guymelef pilot. Shifting her position slightly and flicking her braid hair over her shoulder, Jetta didn't even bother looking over at the two others. The emerald eyes, as dull as her voice, stayed hidden behind closed eyelids as she moved to prop her arms behind her head. "Right, Mina?"

The last cat woman nodded from her position where she was leaning against the leg of her guymelef, just out of reach of the sun's earnest rays. "Exactly. Just wait, Skylar. Rest up, get energy for tonight. We must not fail in this mission."

Skylar sighed, lying back down. "Right, Captain."

The Captain, Mina, turned her sapphire blue to gaze upon the land stretching out past the land of Fanelia, then down at her three dozing companions. There was something strange about this land. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, however.

Shaking off her inner feelings, she went back to running the plan over in her head and the message they had received just before they had left, wrapping her arms loosely around her knees as she stared off into space.

"You must not fail. Capture the dragon and pendant holder. Kill the spare." That sinister voice had hissed from the shadows.

She recalled bowing in reverence to the darkness that was her leader. "Yes, master. We will not fail you."

* * *

"… and that's it. Now we're here." 

"I see."

The whole morning had been spent solely explaining what had happened to Kei and Hitomi thus far. While clearing up some things for all of them, it brought up a series of problems.

Van stood up to pace, his brow furrowed with concentration. He, of course, believed everything that Hitomi had just said. He knew well enough that she wouldn't lie. Now he had to think things over, and he didn't especially want to do that. There was an instinctive urge to get up and go. Go find Merle. But he couldn't leave these two girls here, after all…

"It doesn't make sense. We have no idea who these people are…" He muttered in annoyance.

Kei glanced up at him from her laptop, where she had been typing feverishly to get down what Hitomi had been saying aloud. There were 8 pages filled with information about their first day in the land of Gaea. She saved the file, knowing that they might need the facts for later. "Obviously, they're planning something big, and it required Merle for something. And, considering that last vision you had, Hitomi…"

Hitomi nodded, keeping her eyes lowered. She had told them everything. Since she didn't understand it, she had been hoping that two more heads and a lot of thinking would solve some things.

"… and also considering what you told me before... how you found out that experiments had been done on that Dilan… Dilondow… person… that changed him from female to male, then perhaps they might be conducting something similar to Merle." Kei continued, closing the top of her computer.

This thought did nothing to soothe either of the two Kei had been talking to. Van scowled, pacing as fiercely as ever, while Hitomi sighed and bit her lip in worry. There was a heavy feeling in the room. Worry, fear, a need to do something and fast. Not the best combination. _Time for drastic measures…_

She cleared her throat softly and spoke again. "I think we need to think this over a bit more, but later. Hitomi and I just got here, Van. We need to rest a bit, clear our minds. Plus, you two need to catch up." She smirked slightly but didn't pause even when her comment stopped the pacing Fanelian king in his tracks. "Once we've had some time, then we can think and plan what we're going to do."

"We?" The brown-haired teen turned his head quickly to face the smirking Harakei. His voice rang out sternly as he frowned at her. "I'm going alone; you two would be in danger, I can't risk that."

Hitomi was the first to object. "No!"

Van, startled, gaped at Hitomi. Surely, she should have understood by now that rescue attempts like these were dangerous. His disapproving, older adult act fell right through. "But… Hitomi…"

The girl flushed slightly, but kept up a determined look as she met her love's gaze. Her hands were clutched into fists as she struggled not to start shaking. "No, I'm going with you, Van. I want to save Merle, too."

"And I'm not staying here." Kei added, frowning slightly and feeling rather hurt at being left out.

"No!" Van and Hitomi simultaneously yelled at the newly found draconian, who cringed at the firmness in their tone of voice and the way their eyes had widened as they stared at her.

"But… But I…" She struggled for a reason to prove that she should go, not understanding why her request to come along was rejected so instantly.

"You're hurt." Hitomi answered for the two of them, looking concerned again. Van turned his head away, glaring at the door of the room as he went back to musing about the scum that took Merle away.

"So?" The schoolgirl yelled, sitting straight up in bed. She was outraged. "I just got here; I'm not going to sit around all day while you two go on rescue missions without me!"

"Kei, please try to understand…" The girl with honey brown hair said in earnest, "You'd be in so much danger if you went with us…"

"What about you!" She stubbornly went on, glaring daggers at her schoolmate that sat before her, squirming uncomfortably in her chair with guilt. The girl felt a little guilty herself, making Hitomi experience this anxiety, but she didn't want to back down.

"You can't even handle a weapon, you told me before!"

"I... well… I've been here before, I can handle myself."

"Oh, and I can't?" said Kei, snorting and pointing at her sword that lay nearby.

"Please, Kei… we'll be back as soon as we can. Please…" Her pleading eyes looked into grey ones. A few seconds like that passed, Kei glaring and Hitomi keeping her gaze on her, neither of them daring to blink.

Finally, the off-black orbs narrowed and then shut as Kei sat back in bed with a sulking expression on her face. The kind that meant she had given up, but under protest. Hitomi studied her face intently for a moment before realizing the message behind the deep frown, and she smiled gently. "Thank you, Kei. You just rest, alright? Oh, and… here. It's yours. I don't need it." Hitomi unclasped Kei's necklace from where it hung beneath her shirt and she gently placed it on the bedside table.

With another comforting smile that her friend couldn't see anyway, Hitomi stood and walked over to Van. With a last glance back at the brooding draconian, they left, closing the door softly behind them. Kei was left alone to sigh and spread her wings out again, cursing herself silently for letting that happen.

* * *

The pair, Hitomi and Van, stood outside and began to head back to the room next to Kei's. The emerald eyed girl sighed, leaning against the doorway with a tired expression. 

"Hitomi, are you alright?" Van asked slowly in a soft voice, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder

With a slight nod, she opened the door to the room where her duffel bag still lay by the bed. "Yes, I think… I should rest a while."

She just realized the toll of awakening so early in the morning and then using up all her energy worrying over her friend's safety. She felt drained, and she had a feeling that a hot bath would help assemble her mixed up thoughts and feelings.

With an understanding smile, Van pulled the girl into a hug. "I thought you would be. You rest then, and I'll come back later."

"Alright." Allowing herself a moment of peace as she stood in Van's embrace, she slowly pulled away and managed another nod as she stepped back past the doorway. In the last moment, realizing that she couldn't just leave him without one word, she looked up at him once more. "And Van?"

"Yes?" His arms itched to reach out for her and hold her once more, but he resisted and simply blinked questioningly

"Thank you." With a soft smile, she shut the door, leaving Van to gaze wistfully at the wood barrier that now separated the girl whose presence he had ached for these past three months from him. Finally, with a contented sigh, he turned on his heel and walked slowly back where he had, not too long ago, sprinted at full speed to see the girl from the Mystic Moon who was now, although he didn't realize this, laughing happily with a wide grin on her face.

"I'm back…" She whispered softly, gazing through the window out at the city of Fanelia. "I'm really back."

* * *

Kei, meanwhile, had finally pulled herself together out of her dreary mood and explored her room. Finding a door that led to a room with a bath, which is what she had been looking for, Kei grabbed the pendant, an extra set of clothes, and immediately went at it. 

The bath, as she had expected, wasn't too different from the baths at home. Plumbing was rather primitive… but she could deal with it. Dumping her clean set of clothes on the ground, she observed first how to get water into the bath. That was simple enough. There were two handles above the large tub that was actually built into the floor. After a series of tests, she concluded that the red handle was hot and blue was cold. It really couldn't get more obvious than that. She pulled out a bubble bath bottle she had packed along with her and poured a bit into the stream of water, then stepped back to let the bath fill itself. Placing the bottle by her clothes, she noticed a mirror nearby and peered curiously into it.

"AHH!" Kei screamed in shock, stumbling back and almost tripping over the clothes on the floor. For a moment, a dark figure with gleaming red eyes glared back at her, then faded away. It was replaced by an image of herself. Pale, breathing heavily with wide eyes, and looking fearful. Shaking off the feeling of terror she had just experienced, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly, calming her frantically beating heart and willing away the sudden knot in her stomach.

Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to look in the mirror once more. The only image there was herself, as was expected when one looked into a reflected surface. Hair could use washing, though… That thought stealthily crept into her mind, despite the sudden shock she had just received. With a scratch of her head, Kei turned away from the mirror and went back to the bath, turning off the water.

The raven-haired girl smiled slightly, pleased with the hot bath that she now had before her. Sliding out of the hopelessly ruined school uniform that not only had multiple rips, but also suffered two large holes in the back from her wings, the teen thankfully stepped into the bath. Very hot water, her mind registered.

She couldn't help but sigh with pleasure as she sunk into the hot, bubbly bath. After ten minutes of serious hair-washing and grooming, Harakei brushed back the wet strand of hair to lean against one side of the tub.

She reached out, dripping, to grab the pendant that she had brought with her. Holding it before her, hanging on one finger, the pink pendant shone and reflected the light coming from the small window in the room. Once, it had just been a reminder of her old parents. Who, according to her foster parents, died.

"This is all that came with you." They said whenever she asked about where she had come from. "We don't know anything else, Kei. Sorry."

Now… not only was it a memento of her past. It was a link to Gaea. _A thing of_… her brow furrowed in thought. _.. a thing of Atlantis._

After all, this is what Hitomi has as well. And as she had explained the first time, the pendant had been both a curse and a gift. It had allowed her to see the unseen… but also granted wishes through the power of Atlantis that had changed fate. Changed fate to the worst one out of multiple possibilities.

Was this the same? Would her own uncontrollable wishing pull bad destinies into place?

Then there was always something else bothering her.

Why did this all seem familiar? Shouldn't the sight of wolf men and the cries of dragons have freaked her out? How they were teleported to another planet that she hadn't even known existed by being rushed up into the sky in a blue light, produced from their wishes and thoughts? And her wings. Why didn't it seem life-changing that she could suddenly sprout wings from her back? It's not like everyday something new happened to her. But now, everything was different. But the difference… seemed like home, and she couldn't understand why.

There was a sharp pain in her shoulder blade, right where her wing grew out of when they were spread. Sighing, Kei tossed the pendant gently to the pile of clothes on the floor and sunk back into her bubble bath to think.

* * *

Hitomi slipped into a fresh pair of jeans and a tank top, sighing. She had been right, a hot bath had helped. 

Her school uniform was draped over the window ledge, drying. Running her fingers through her damp hair that she had been growing out ever since her departure from Gaea, she tried to slip on her sneakers without untying the laces or looking down. With a last glance out at the afternoon sun, she knelt down hurriedly to fix the tongue of one of her shoes, then straightened and went to the door. Just as she had begun wondering where she could find Van, she opened the door to find the boy she had just been thinking about. He blinked in surprise, lowering his hand that been about to knock.

They stared at each other for a moment before Van grinned and took Hitomi's hand in his, leading her out of the doorway and closing the door behind her.

They walked through the castle, talking softly. "Hitomi, are you sure you want to do this? Come with me to save Merle?" He glanced down at her, worry in his dark brown eyes as he voiced his concerns.

"I'm positive." Hitomi gazed up at him as a soft smile touched her lips. She was happy. That much was obvious. It had been so long since those auburn wells flooded her mind, ages had gone by before she had her chance to look upon his tanned, gentle face. Their last moments together had been heart-wrenching, in all the ways possible. He had held her tightly, and then let her go. Now, she happily looked down at their clasped hands, Van was not as willing to release her from his grip as before. There was no promise holding him back. No promise to send Hitomi to the Mystic Moon. This time, she had come willingly. She had come for him.

Van sighed softly, but found he had no heart to try and steer her away from going with him. In a way, he was grateful that she was coming. Deep down, he didn't really mind her tagging along. Chuckling softly, and gently squeezing her hand, his reply came softly. "Alright, then. But I suppose I have to give you back something…"

"Hmm?" questioned Hitomi, looking up at Van once more.

Instead of answered her confused noise, the young king stopped and, after reluctantly releasing his hold on her, raised both his gloved hands to his neck, fiddling with a chain for a moment before finally undoing the clasp and pulling forth Hitomi's old necklace. And from the chain hung…

"My pendant…" Her eyes softened as her hand automatically reached out to take her old good luck charm. She stared down at the palm of her hand where the pink stone gleamed back at her. It was funny, in a way. Kei's pendant looked exactly the same, and yet now that she could compare the two, her own seemed so much more familiar and so different from her friends.

"I realized you're going to need it more than me, now…" He said softly, uncertain whether she was happy or saddened by the return of her necklace.

Hitomi was having mixed feelings. On one hand, she would have to use it to find out where the enemies would be, and to assist Van in battle, if needed. But, on the other hand, would she accidentally wish up bad fates again?

Hopefully not. If there was one thing she had learned, was that she could not underestimate the power of wishes, and to have faith that things can turn out alright, even if all seemed dark.

With a soft smile, she attached the necklace around her neck and tucked the pink jewel beneath her shirt. "Thank you, Van."

With a relieved smile, Van took her hand once more and the two continued on their way, but they were forced to stop again when Hitomi paused upon passing a room whose two wooden doors were thrown open. Within was the old home of the Escaflowne. It was exactly the same, but for two things. There was no large rock, the resting place of the guymelef, hanging from the ceiling. And, a shrine had been built at the far side of the chamber. There had been three coffins there before, but those were nowhere to be found.

"This is…"

Van frowned slightly, following her gaze. "Yes, this is the shrine. It was barely touched in the fire… so we barely had to rebuild anything. But for the wooden areas and…." He hesitated, looking off at the large memorial.

A moment of silence passed where they both stared at the shrine, Hitomi realized what it was after noting two carved dragons guarding the tomb. "It's for Folken, isn't it?"

"Yes. This is the first one. His body rests by my father… in the royal forest." He replied softly, lowering his eyes to hide them in the shadow produced by his large bangs.

Automatically, the Mystic Moon girl reached out to comfort him. But as soon as she touched his shoulder, everything faded out of sight.

_She gasped, her hand no longer in Van's. Around her was darkness, but not for long. Four pairs of eyes loomed out at her. Blue, green, grey, and red, all regarding her coldly. Her swinging pendant suddenly erased the cold eyes. Beyond the chain, she saw a dark figure. Next to it stood… was that Kei? The girl's wings were spread out behind her as she looked up in horror at the figure. _

_The vision focused on the girl, and the situation changed. Kei was falling again, and this time, she was screaming, reaching out to her. "HITOMII!"_

"_Kei!" She tried to grab her hand, but it was useless, and the visions were swept up into a blur._

_The vast, swirling images came to an abrupt stop. A black dragon loomed at her. A mechanical dragon, flying past with the wings made from steel and cloth. _

"_A black Escaflowne?" She gasped softly again._

_The ground beneath her cracked then collapsed inward, carrying Hitomi with it. _

_She screamed in distress, reaching out for someone. Anyone. This seemed strangely familiar. But why wasn't anyone coming? Surely Van would come flying, like he always would? But where was he?_

"_VAN!" She screamed, dismay and terror filling her very soul._

_Eight guymelef claws reached out, the four faces of cat women grinning wickedly at her._

"Hitomi!" Van's face broke through the vision, his eyes wide with fear.

Quickly exhaling air, her shaking legs would no longer hold her, causing her to collapse into the Fanelian king's supporting arms.

"Another vision?" He inquired, holding his love closely.

"Yes…" She answered breathlessly, holding a trembling hand to her head.

"What was it?" Asking quickly, assuming that the vision was about Merle, Van stared down at her.

Sluggishly, Hitomi recovered her footing and stood straight. Taking a step back, she gazed down at the floor and recalling Kei falling, screaming for her name. "Something's coming. Kei… Kei's life is in danger. Oh no, Kei…"

"Calm down." Van said in as comforting tone as he could muster, rather disturbed by her words.

"Hitomi? Are you ok?" Another voice broke the tensed air as Kei walked towards them.

The two looked up in surprise at Harakei, who was now dressed in a pale gray shirt with white letter "Kama-Kita" on it, along with dark jeans and sneakers. Her hair was tied back in a braid as her own pink Atlantean pendant gleamed on her chest. She blinked in a blank sort of way, not realizing what had just happened.

"What's wrong?"

Hitomi Kanzaki wasn't too eager in explaining her recent vision to her. Not now. "Eh…" She flushed slightly. "Nothing. I just tripped."

Van nodded, his face expressionless as Kei looked at both of them with a skeptical expression.

"Well... alright…."

An uncomfortable silence followed, but Van thought fast. "You two are probably hungry…"

"Me." Kei raised her hand, sulking slightly.

"Yes…" Hitomi quickly agreed, glad for the change of subject. "We haven't had breakfast, either."

"Now that I think about it… I'm starving…" The grey-eyed teen poked her very empty stomach.

Van nodded and turned, starting to walk down the hall. "Follow me, then."

Exchanging looks, Kei shrugged and the two pendant bearers followed after Van.

* * *

Some time later, moments before dusk, the two girls were full with Fanelian food. They sat contentedly outside on some steps that led up to the castle. Van stood behind them, his arms folded across his chest. They were relaxed, watching the city below them slowly begin to settle in and prepare for night. Newly built stores were closed, children ushered in by mothers for their bedtime. Even stray cats and dogs slinked off to find a place to sleep. 

"It's so peaceful…" Hitomi said softly, as if afraid to break the calm that the three had been keeping. She took the silence from the other two as their agreement and she settled back once more.

Ever slowly, but with practiced precision, the sun slowly made its way over to the horizon. Orange rays flooded through the city, but this time from behind the palace. Kei glanced back at Van, who was framed with the light and almost appeared to glow. He didn't notice her gaze, too busy with watching over the city.

Before she even had a chance to say something about the glorious sunset, the draconian king cleared his throat and turned his attention back to the two sitting girls before him. "It's getting late, both of you should get your rest."

The girls stood wordlessly, knowing that Van was right. They began making their way back to the two guest rooms Hitomi and Kei now used. The palace was nearly unoccupied of the hoards of people from before that had, through the entire day, gawked at the two Mystic Moon girls. Now, thankfully, there was no one left to stare, and Hitomi sighed inwardly. She had never imagined her arrival to have such an effect on everyone else. Then again, she hadn't really thought about it either.

Their first stop was Kei's room. She bid then both goodnight and closed the door with a soft click behind her, immediately heading for the bed to flop over and throw a few blankets over herself. She was asleep in minutes.

Hitomi was standing in the doorway of her room, staring out the window where, in the time they had taken to walk to their current position, darkness had already fallen. She sighed softly, turning back to face Van. "We didn't really think about the rescue plan… are we going tomorrow?"

He frowned slightly, gazing out the window as well. "The sooner, the better. Tomorrow would be best." He looked down at her, that familiar determined look in his eyes. "That's why I want you to get a good rest, Hitomi."

With a nod, Hitomi looked off to the side, uncertain of what to say now. Van, noting her discomfort as if it was his own, softened his rigid expression and tenderly pulled the girl before him into an embrace. Without realizing it, that was exactly what Hitomi had been waiting for. Her arms slowly laced around him and they stood like that for a few moments, letting their worries, just for that moment, wash away. They allowed themselves to find solace in one another, Hitomi more than Van. What would come tomorrow would come. That didn't matter now. All that mattered was that after three oh so long months… they were reunited.

But, as all good moments, they must come to an end, and so did this one. Hitomi pulled away, but not before quickly planting a kiss on Van's cheek. With a gentle smile, she walked backwards into her room. "Good night, Van."

He smiled his rare, entrancing smile. "Good night, Hitomi."

And with that, they parted. Van headed down the hall to his own room, leaving Hitomi to lie down on her bed and, after a bit of staring at the just appearing pinpricks of stars which could be seen through her window, she fell into a deep, visionless sleep.

* * *

Unknown to anyone in Fanelia, four guymelefs silently launched from their hiding position high above on the cliffs. Mechanical wings silently slid to catch air and the melefs glided over the top of the slumbering city. With meticulous accuracy, the four circled exactly above the royal castle. Two figures silently fell from the melefs onto the roof with soft thumps. Freezing in place, they waited for any reaction within, but none came. They continued on, padded as only ones with cat blood could. Reaching the edge of the roof, the two grasped the border with one hand and with synchronized fluidity, slipped right through windows that were, conveniently enough, open. And, it was with the deadly accuracy that the rooms happened to be the ones containing two girls from the Mystic Moon. 

Van shot from his sleeping position in an armchair, hearing a piercing scream through the whole castle. Grabbing his royal sword from the mantelpiece in the room, he scolded himself for dozing off. His booted feet hammered along the corridor as he sprinted to the guest rooms. Growling, he threw open the door to Hitomi's room.

What he saw was the last thing he had expected. A cat woman, like the one Folken once controlled, had an arm tightly around Hitomi's neck from behind. In another hand, a strange but sharp throwing disc was pressed against the young teen's throat.

"Van…" Hitomi managed to gasp out, trying unsuccessfully to rip the arm from her neck, but the cat woman hissed and slowly began to back up to the window, her grip as tight as ever.

"Stay back, Draconian King. That is, if you want the girl to live…" Striking grey eyes glinted at him cunningly.

"Rr… let her go!" Van drew his sword swiftly as a crash in the room over sounded. It had resembled something collapsing. Then he looked past the grey colored cat to see a dark grey guymelef, like those the Enhanced Luck soldiers used, hovering by Kei's room. In its open steel hand was another cat woman, this one pure white and dressed the same as the woman before him. They seemed to have a dark red body suit that completely covered their neck, but had no sleeves, or cloth extending for their legs. Clasped to either side of their waists was what looked like half a skirt, which fell to their knees and had three black stripes at the bottom. Long, knee-high boots were colored dark red as well.

The white one was holding tightly Kei, who would have made every attempt to escape, if not for the bladed weapon at her neck.

The strange winged melef, with long black hair and a pale grey faceplate, turned to took into the window where Van and Hitomi were. A cold voice was heard from it, which was, no doubt, another cat woman. "Skylar, we've got Hitomi Kanzaki. Kill the other one."

A guymelef hand broke though the wall of the guest room. The one named Skylar nimbly jumped onto it and was lifted out of the room, Hitomi trying to reach Van, but in vain as the king ran forward to look helplessly at the two imprisoned girls.

Skylar, standing on the hand of a dark blue melef with a pale brown face plate and pink hair, was arguing with her white furred accomplice. "Aelis, that's not Hitomi Kanzaki, this girl is!"

"But they've both got pendants! Which one's which?" Aelis, strangely calm, looked from the real Hitomi to Kei, who was glaring at her.

The one in the blue melef replied instantly. "Persuade them a bit, you two…"

Van gasped, pausing in his irritated growling. That voice… it seemed so familiar…

With a shrug, Aelis drew a long, deadly dagger. Holding it to Kei's throat, she gently ran the blade across her skin, making a thin, but painful scratch.

As blood collected into a single drop and began it's descent down, Kei screamed and pushed Aelis away violently. "No!"

Aelis, hissing softly as her tail bristled , brought up a fist to punch the girl smartly in the cheek, but she underestimated her strength and knocked Kei completely off the hand of the guymelef.

Kei seemed to fall as of slow motion, crying out in distress. Hitomi began to scream as well. "Nooo!"

But before Van could rip off his shirt and sprout wings, before any of the four assassins could managed a gasp, a rumbling somewhere deep within the castle began, quickly leading up to an explosion. Something shadowy flew from the eruptions. It gleamed in the moonlight, gliding beneath Kei and catching her before the ground broke her fall. The shocked stillness that followed seemed almost too loud as all eyes turned to look in one place.

Flapping slowly, a black Escaflowne, in dragon form, had saved Kei, who was lying, dazed, in the piloting seat.

"A black Escalfowne!" Van's eyes widened. "It can't be!"

Hitomi shuddered. Kei falling, black Escaflowne… the vision had come true.

The pilot of the pink haired melef hissed. "The dragon and the pendant carryer… master did not say they were one. Quick, drop the other girl, grab the dragon!"

Skylar silently shoved Hitomi off into emptiness and jumped to the roof, where her own dark red melef awaited her. Aelis did the same, hurrying to the dark green guymelef that was her own.

"Hitomi!" Van regained himself and, quickly ripping away the red cloth that restricted him, he spread his white wings and jumped. Flying after the falling girl that was Hitomi, he caught her neatly in his arms in the nick of time. As they both floated slowly to the ground, Hitomi shaking still with fear, they could do nothing but watch as four winged melefs quickly departed, two grasping the wings and the remaining each holding onto a claw of the black Escaflowne. Kei was still unconscious, not even realizing that she was being kidnapped.

"No…" Hitomi softly murmured as the five figures escaped. "Kei… KEI!"

* * *

There we go. Nice looooonnnggg chapter. As an apology for the long time no update phase. 

I still couldn't resist a cliff-hanger, though. Please don't kill me…

Some of you may be a little disappointed that Hitomi and Van aren't kissing anymore, and that, like in the series, their whole "relationship" consists of them hugging and holding hands. But, you have to remember, that's really that kind of relationship that they have as of now. In modern terms, they've really _just_ started going out. You can't rush these things xD

No worries, kids. They'll get closer soon enough. Plus, Allen and the rest are going to come in pretty soon, and we'll find out more about the four cat assassins, along with new enemy that they're facing. Don't forget to review, folks! Thankee!


	8. Father and Daughter

Just when I thought that I would have more time to update… and my fanfic doesn't update for over a month. . ;; Oy…

Sorry, all. I've had more time constrains pop up over the past week, including High School swimming and, unsurprisingly, more projects.

But, of course, I'm still trying to write as much and as fast as I can without posting up gibberish. Despite that, I still think there's something missing in my story…. Writing-wise. Eh, I dunno. My editor, Sarah, threatened me to update…

Anyways, thanks again for all the reviews! They make this one a very happy and grateful girl, so they do.

I'm probably going to keep up with the last chapter summaries, considering my dreadful update habits.

Onward! And please don't forget to review!

Speaking of reviews…

Kyle- Darnit, watch Escaflowne first before asking so many darn questions! And stop… like… talking 'bout wrist cutting and stuff. You're distressing Emily. Gah.

Macky- Thanks for the review!

Emily- I know, you're always confused

Blitz KriegHerr- Eep. O.o;; Please don't kill me. That would be… bad… and I have enough assasins on me right now as is… -nervous laugh-

Inda- Well, here it is. The next chapter. Thanks for the review!

Avelyn Lauren- Yup, yup, you're right there. But, of course, yes, Merle and Kei'll push 'em along.. hehe. Thanks for reviewing!

**_There was a demand for fluff. A death threat, I think. So here we go. FLUFF! -waves arms around-

* * *

_**

Eternity Dragons

Chapter Eight – "Father and Daughter"

* * *

Last time… Kei and Hitomi have explained their story to Van, who accepts it without hesitation. Meanwhile, nearby, 4 cat women are waiting for their chance to strike. Night falls and, sure enough, enemy guymelefs descend upon the Fanelian castle in attempt to kidnap Hitomi but mistake her for Kei. As Skylar, Aelis, Mina, and Jetta puzzle over which girl is the real Kanzaki, Kei falls from her captured position, summoning a jet black Escaflowne. Wasting no time, the cat assassins steal Kei and the ebony guymelef, flying off into the night and leaving Hitomi and Van to watch their friend get kidnapped….

* * *

Van growled softly, setting Hitomi down as the large figure of five melefs began fading into the horizon. His anger spread and soon enough, his hands began shaking. "_How dare they… sneak in during the middle of the night to kidnap an innocent girl! They had been coming after Hitomi and yet they left with Kei."_

That girl… the draconian had summoned the black Escaflowne, which had seemingly come out of nowhere. None of it made sense.

His head would have been spinning if it wasn't busy being filled with rage. Next to him, Hitomi was struggling not to cry or whimper, shivering in the cold. What were they going to do? Kei was gone and they had no way of following them. Van's guymelef, after all, had been deactivated, and he surely couldn't carry her all the way to wherever the cat women were going on his wings alone.

In her clenched hands was her pendant, glowing faintly, but in her rapidly beating heart was guilt. Guilt and worry. She should have been the one to be kidnapped, not Kei. She had been responsible for her. "_It's my fault…. All… my fault. Oh, Kei…"_

Van frowned darkly and his wings disappeared behind him. In the castle, there were rising cries of alarm and running footsteps towards the guestroom area. "Hitomi, stay here." Without another word, he turned on his heel and ran in a sprint, heading around the castle.

Hitomi knew where he was heading. To Escaflowne.

Startled, she gasped and turned. "What? Van!"

Her green eyes narrowed slightly as she realized what was happening. She was getting left behind. "Stay here? Van… wait up!" Breaking into a run, she dashed after him desperately, not relishing the thought of staying behind by herself.

As soon as she had caught up, Van abruptly turned and headed right into the castle through a side door, Hitomi being forced to run behind him. Together, the two of them tore down the dimly lit hallways, the Fanelian king leading the way. Luckily, this side of the building hadn't awoken yet from the attack, or word hadn't reached them yet. Either way, Van and Hitomi met no one and, without pause, they burst through the last door, leading outside right into the royal gardens.

Recognition flickered in Hitomi's mind for a moment. This is where they had come in their first day in Fanelia. Which would lead to….

"No! Van!" She gasped, stumbling slightly as she ran into the forest which Van had just disappeared into seconds ago. It was dark, as the tall trees covered the bright moon beams. However, the pendant began to glow a pale pink again the second Hitomi had rushed in the woods and she could easily pick out Van's dark figure ahead of her. They seemed to have been going along a path, as Hitomi could feel no grass beneath her feet and no branches whipped out at her face.

No doubt, Van had traveled along this trail before.

Just as Hitomi felt her lungs begin to burn and her breath start to come in short, frantic gasps, the lines of trees suddenly ended, opening into a great clearing, filled with moonlight.

Hitomi slowed to a stop, filling her lungs with much needed air as she looked around to see where they were. It didn't take long to figure out. Van had led them straight to the royal garden. There was the burial place of Van's father. And there was the still, gray Escaflowne… but where was Van?

Panic froze her stomach as the Mystic Moon girl looked around, taking a few steps forward to get a better view of the clearing. Van, however, was nowhere to be found. Hitomi couldn't hold back an anxious sob, bringing her hands up to clutch at the pendant. "Van…"

She didn't have long to worry, though. The familiar red shirt popped up again as the Fanelian King walked out from behind the large memorial, holding something in his hand. Hitomi's eyes widened in surprise as the tears that had been threatening to start falling vanished. Now, irritation popped up. She glowered slightly at him. "Van, where'd you go? Don't scare me like that! Van… Van?"

Uncertainty spread along her features. It was obvious the boy hadn't heard a word she had said. The fierce, angry expression was enough evidence for that. But that wasn't what Hitomi was concentrating on. It was what he was holding and where he was going.

In his hand was the drag energist from their old adventure, as she could now see. The one that had began the whole fiasco in the first place, sending Hitomi off with Van to Gaea. It was the energist that had also, in the end, sent her home. But what it also was…

That dragon energist was in fact the power source and heart of the Ispano guymelef, Escaflowne. And Van was walking towards his old war mecha with that same determined frown that often scared Hitomi. Her pendant glowed even brighter in what Hitomi knew was a reaction to the energist. She felt her stomach sink into apprehension. She never thought that Van would have planned to keep the energist in a safe place, just in case.

Van Fanel climbed up onto the bent knee of Escaflowne. Drawing his sword silently, he slid the blade over his thumb, causing a cut and a few drops of blood to rise to the surface of his skin. Kanzaki could not even see what he was doing, despite the moonlight, but she had a good idea. Before she knew what she was doing, her feet were carrying her up next to the Escaflowne and she was yelling, gripping the necklace so hard, any regular chain and pendant would have long broken. "Van, please don't! Don't use Escaflowne!"

The boy king paid her no mind. "I bind myself by blood pact to thee, Escaflowne…" He muttered almost inaudibly, sheathing his sword and, with one hand, thrust the large pink stone deep into the "heart" of the guymelef.

"Please, Van! You don't have to use Escaflowne again!" Hitomi tried again, anxious.

For a moment, nothing happened. A look of puzzlement flashed across Van's features as he withdrew his hand, waiting for the familiar pale glow to show that Escaflowne had awoken from his slumbers.

There was a sudden screeching noise from deep within the melef and, with a bright flash of pink, Van was thrown from his perch, sailing across the clearing to slam into the ground, rolling for a while until finally, his journey was painfully stopped by a large oak.

"VAN!" Screamed Hitomi, running to Van. Neither of them noticed the energist innocently falling to the ground with a dull thud.

"Van, are you ok?" She fell to her knees next to Fanel, who in turn sat up, groaning softly in pain.

"Damn it…" He growled, wiping a trail of blood from his mouth impatiently with a gloved hand. With a glare at Escaflowne, he sighed in frustration, slamming the now bloody hand into the ground. "Damn it!"

Hitomi felt helpless, for she was just as confused as Van was. She stared down at the boy, her eyes wide as she unknowingly held her breath. Why had Escaflowne rejected the energist so violently? "Van, please…"

Her love before her was staring intensively down at the ground, looking defeated. Not only was Merle now gone, so was the new girl, Kei! All of this happened right under his nose, with him not being able to help either of them. Even Hitomi could have been lost to him… and it would have been all his fault.

Van choked. The helplessness, desperation, and defeat filling his very soul. He couldn't take it anymore. The past few weeks events, swirling inside of him, tore out all shreds of patience were gone. It was too much…. As he was about to release a ravaged yell, he felt arms wrap firmly around him and the emotion-releasing scream died instantly in his throat. Van blinked momentarily in surprise when he saw Hitomi was the one who had, without warning, pulled him into a tight embrace.

She had been watching him in silence before she realized that he needed her help. Not physically, but mentally. Pushing back her own hearts weaknesses for now, she had knelt down next to Van and laced her arms in a gentle but resolute manner around him. "I know how you feel, Van," She said in a soft voice, not really knowing where the sudden words were coming from. "You just have to believe. Believe that Kei will be alright. That Merle is going to be fine. Have faith. We can do this, we can save them, but we have to think before we act right now."

As she spoke, Van's body slowly relaxed as he listened, his eyes half closed. "Hitomi…"

"Once we plan out what we're going to do, without acting rashly, we'll be able to get Kei and Merle back." Done with her unexpected, firm words, Hitomi buried her face into Van's shoulder, closing her eyes as her tight hold around him became weaker.

For a few moments, the two of them were still, Van neither replying nor moving. Finally, he gave off a tired sigh and turned to enfold the girl in his arms. "I'm sorry, Hitomi. I don't know what came over me. You're right." He said in a hushed voice.

"It's just…" Briefly, Hitomi looked up, her emerald eyes shining again with unshed tears. "… it's just that… I'm worried for you, too, Van! I don't want you to lose control… because…" Her voice grew quiet as she turned her head away. "Because…"

As Van blinked, Hitomi suddenly blurted out, "Because I love you, Van! I don't want anything to happen to you… I've seen you through enough pain already…" Her tone sank to a whimper as she couldn't even meet his gaze any longer, a blush coming to her cheeks. _"There, I finally said it. I knew it was true… but I never told him before…. I care for you so much, Van…. I can't see you in any more pain."_

Whatever was left Van's anger deflated at that moment. His eyes grew soft and he smiled his rare smile. "I love you too, Hitomi. You know I do."

He moved one hand to gently cup her cheek and Hitomi blushed fiercely, feeling the warmth from his gloves spread through her face.

Leaning down and, at the same time, pulling her closer to him, Van hesitated for just a second, moments away from achieving a kiss. He stared into her eyes and Hitomi surprised him by closing the small distance between them, pressing her lips against his. The king's eyes widened in shock, then closed, as did Hitomi's. The girl felt something like electricity shoot down her spine, a reaction of Van's touch.

For what seemed like ages, the two of them sat there, wrapped in each others arms and warmth, reveling in a closeness that they had not yet achieved. It ended quickly, though. Van pulled back, breaking the kiss, and, enveloping his love more securely in his arms, he stood. Hitomi blinked in surprise as she was suddenly being carried in Van's arms bridal style. "Eh… Van?"

He grinned, starting back off into the forest, leaving behind the still dead Escaflowne and the forgotten energist, "C'mon. We have to get started on planning Kei's and Merle's rescue, don't we?"

With a smile, the girl wrapped her arms around Van's neck to keep her balance and nodded. "Right."

* * *

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­_Kei's eyes fluttered open to bright sunshine. With a soft groan, she sat up, rubbing at her head where her mind told her there should be a bump from hitting whatever broke her fall. However, there was nothing there but a few blades of grass that stuck to her hair. _

_A soft, chuckling voice that reminded Kei of small, silver bells interrupted her confusion. "Sylvie, I see you're finally awake."_

_Kei looked at who was sitting next to her. A smiling, beautiful woman with long, brown hair past her shoulders, her eyes a startling green. She was wearing a pretty, light green sundress and from her back extended two pairs of wings. _

_Draconian wings, Kei's mind filled in. Gasping, Kei became wide awake._

"_M-mom?"_

_She continued to smile, but then her perfect face changed to one of concern, a frown marring her features. "What's wrong, love?"_

"_Oh… nothing." Kei forced a small smile and looked around. She was sitting on a small hill, covered with flowers. Below them were fields, rivers… beautiful, free nature. There was a gentle breeze, bringing in scents of different flowers and warm air. And up in the bright, cloudless sky hung Earth. The Mystic Moon._

"_So I'm still in Gaea… this must be … a dream…" She whispered, biting her lip as she saw her own wings spread and that she was dressed in a comfortable, pale blue sundress. _

_She didn't know where exactly she was, or how she knew that the women next to her was her mother, but it was obvious she was dreaming. _

"_Mother?"_

"_Yes, Sylvie?" _

"Sylvie…"_ Kei thought. _"That must be... my real name."

_A sudden lump came up in her throat. "Where's… where's Dad?"_

_Kei heard the tinkling silver bells again. "Oh, Sylvie... you know how busy he is…Harakei!"_

_The last word Kei's mother said was sharp, unlike the calm, laughing voice she had been hearing. Indeed, the mother in the sundress was gone, replaced by a standing woman in a ragged cloak. "Harakei, you must wake up."_

"_Mom?" Kei quickly stood. The warm, relaxed atmosphere around her was gone. "What's going on?"_

"_Kei, my daughter, I cannot tell you just yet. For now, you must wake up!"_

_Kei looked into the face of a worried version of her mother. "Why?"_

"_This is not a dream. Nor is it a memory." The woman said urgently, ignoring the confused look Kei was giving her. "Awaken, my daughter! Awaken!"_

"Mom!" Kei's eyes shot open to look up into many bright, stinging lights. Shielding her eyes, she slowly sat up, looking around for the woman who was long dead. "Mom?"

No one answered. In fact, there didn't seem to be anyone in the room at all.

"So it was a dream…" Dejected, Harakei looked down at her lap, where she noticed a few tubes protruding from her wrists. More were attached to her neck and head. Without thinking, she took each of the plastic tubes and pulled, ripping out all of them and ignoring the stinging pain.

This was quite perplexing. She was in a strange room with lights, sitting on a metal table. She had woken to find tubes sticking out of her, and she had no idea where she was, or where her captors had gone to. After all, everything that had happened came right back to her. The four cat women and the huge guymelef things, the pendant glowing…

"The pendant!" Gasping, her hand flew to her neck. It was gone. Her only link to home, to Hitomi… gone.

"Missing something?" A door she hadn't spotted before was open, flooding the room with light from what Kei could see was a hallway. A man was approaching her, but she couldn't make out his face.

"Wh-Who's there?" She scrabbled backwards on the smooth surface of the table, filled with a strange fear that she couldn't banish. It had come into her soul as soon as that man had walked in. That man she was scared to death of for a reason she didn't understand.

"Someone who doesn't want to hurt you. Calm down, girl." The man's voice… despite his fear-inducing presence, the words he had spoken calmed her heart. She had heard that voice before, but from where exactly, she didn't know. Her body, not listening to what her mind was screaming, which was to run away, relaxed. She breathed heavily, staring up at the man until he came into view.

The first thing that caught her was his grey eyes. They were intense and seemed to burn right into her soul. Her mouth hung open in shock, but she quickly caught herself and put on a fierce face. "Who are you?"

He didn't answer at first, looking over at all the rejected tubes. Finally, he looked back at her, grinning in a friendly way. "My name is Torran."

Kei had a good look at Torran. He was tall and lanky, and, if she had to guess, about in his late 30's. He had unruly, jet black hair that, although rather short, resembled Van's hair somewhat. There was a kindly look about him, and his face, clean-shaven, was set with that same friendly grin, his eyes no longer frightening, but matching the grin.

The girl wasn't even surprised anymore that he seemed somewhat familiar. Ever since she had been on Gaea, everything had seemed familiar. But just then, Torran spoke again.

"It seems you didn't like our dream generator…"

"Your… what?" Kei blinked, perplexed.

Torran pointed at the tubes. "We were giving you dreams of your deepest desire. So I won't ask you what you were dreaming about…"

So that explained it. Why that dream couldn't have been possible. She had just been wishing for mother. To live a normal life, with her real family. The truth came with a sting of pain, though. The wishes betrayed her foster family, who she had also come and love. Kei noticed the man named Torran watching her closely and she moved forward to sit on the table with her legs hanging over the edge. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why am I here? Why did you kidnap me? Why did you come after me and Hitomi in the first place? Why did you stick tubes in me? Why?" She frowned, now angry at what was happening.

Torran simply chuckled. "Ah. Well… you're here because we need you here. We kidnapped you by mistake."

Kei interrupted him. "By mistake?"

A look of irritation and impatience flicked on Torran's face, but it was quickly gone, replaced with a shrewd smile. "Yes, I'm afraid… the Four Assassins could not figure out that you were not, in fact, Hitomi Kanzaki and that the Dragon was not your black Escaflowne. They are being taken care of as we speak."

Kei didn't even notice the dark shadow that passed over his eyes as she blurted out more questions. "My Escaflowne? What did you do with it? And what did you do to Hitomi and Van?"

"I'm afraid I cannot tell you anything else but that the girl from the Mystic Moon and the Fanelian King are left unharmed and still in Fanelia, safe and sound." Torran answered simply, looking calm once more.

In a flash, Kei was up with her hands clutching at Torran's shirt, her grey eyes glaring into his. Her voice was a mere growl as she spoke. "Give me back the Escaflowne… and let me go."

The man didn't even flinch but continued to gaze coolly at her. "I'm afraid I can't do that…"

"No!" She screamed, furious. "Just let me go!"

"But that is where you're wrong, dear. Why do you think you managed to summon the black guymelef?" He leaned in closer, dropping to a whisper. "You belong here."

Her eyes narrowed. "And where exactly is here?"

"The home of your father, Sylvie. _Your_ home."

Kei gasped, releasing Torran and stumbling back into the table, staring at the man with a horrified expression. The man who was her father, with the identical hair and eyes. "No…"

Everything inside of her was screaming that this wasn't possible, despite that fact that Torran knew her real name, which was proof enough. How could it be? She had been raised on the Mystic Moon because both of her parents had died. If her father was still alive…. Quite alive, and living on the Mystic Moon… then…

"You abandoned me?"

Torran looked pained. "Never abandoned, my dear daughter. You were sent to the Mystic Moon so that you could live a peaceful life. Free from all the hardships you would have had to face here. It was both mine and your mothers, Sara's, wish… please, believe me…" He took a step towards her, pleading.

She could only stare, her mind not able to form any coherent words.

"But now you are old enough, Silvara. Old enough to join the last Draconian kinsmen, bearing the proud name of Fanel." As he moved closer, Kei could see a crazed gleam in his eyes.

"F-Fanel?" She managed to gasp out, leaning on the table as far back as she could go to get away from this insane man.

"Yes… I am the last in the great line of Fanel that does not hide his Draconian trait. I am the brother of Vari Fanel, who you may know to be Van Fanel's mother. Which makes you and the young king…" He smirked.

Kei finished his sentence, breathless. "… cousins."

"Join me, Silvara Fanel. Join me and come home, for together you and I will achieve…"

"Achieve what?" She asked, blinking.

Torran seemed to hesitate, then smiled, crazed, leaning in closer. "In ridding this world of all the evil and vile things that are attached to it. Together. Father and Daughter.

As he spoke, he unfurled his own wings. There were streaks of black in the feathers but Kei could only stare. She struggled to keep her breathing even and steady as she pressed a hand to her forehead. There was too much information for her to take in at once. First, she was kidnapped, then realized that her father was not dead and that she was related to the king of a land she barely knew on a planet where she was actually from but not raised. By now, the missing pendant and Hitomi were far from her mind.

"_Father… maybe I should join him… maybe I really am… home_._"_

In any case, she had no choice in the matter. She was at their mercy. Lowering her head, she nodded in defeat, then gasped sharply as Torran Fanel pulled her into an embrace. My daughter… welcome home."

* * *

So there ya go. Van and Hitomi fluff. Or, at least, an attempt at fluff. And Kei's relation to Van revealed. In case some of it was confusing… 

Torran Fanel and Sara Fanel are the draconian parents of Silvara, or Silvie Fanel. Silvie was sent to the Mystic Moon, where she was taken in by regular humans and renamed Harakei Hamano. Torran is the brother of Vari Fanel, who was the wife of Goau, and they were the parents of Van and Folken. Thus, Van and Kei are cousins, both have black hair and draconian wings, etc.

Just to clear some things up…

Anyways, don't forget to review!


	9. A New Friend

-gasp- Well, look at that, another update. And a month hasn't even passed yet... heh.

I've decided that I'm going to re-write some of my beginning chapters of Eternity Dragons. It's probably going to have a prologue after I'm done so I can actually have an interesting beginning, then I'll tune up the rest of the chapters. The last few I'll probably keep, since they were half-decent, at least.

If anything, I can always just drop this story and start up another one. That's always an option, but I'm still rather fond of the story line I've established. Methinks I probably just didn't write it out well enough.

It's rather distressing, really, that my second fic was started as an inside joke and it's gotten over 900 hits, whereas this fic, which I'm really putting more effort into, hasn't even gotten to 400. Ah well, c'est la vie.

So there ya go. After this chapter, I'll probably disappear for a while and come back, hopefully, with another chapter and a whole re-edited beginning. Hopefully being the key word. I'm also thinking about just doing one view point for each chapter. The chapters will be shorter, but I'll be able to update a lot faster.

As for reviews…

Inda- Hehe, well, I'm trying, thanks for the review!

Avelyn Lauren- Yes, streaks of black are bad. But I can't answer anymore questions, 'twill give away the plot! But, I agree, the leaving the energist is rather risky, but I'll make sure it's still there. Haha.

Macky- Thank you for ze revieeewww!

Kyle (CapT Black, CKyle)- Er… thanks for the reviews, dear, but… I'm pretty such I think I'm Lera. And as writer of this fanfic, I'd really like for you to stop with the whole self-mutilation thing…. Please? (thank you for _trying_ to watch Escaflowne, by the way)

Emily- Thankee for the reviews, Emily. I know it's confusing, I know it's slow… I'll try to fix it...

* * *

Eternity Dragons

Chapter 9 – "A New Friend"

* * *

Silvara Fanel. Sylvie. Sylvie Fanel.

The names sounded bitter on her tongue. In Kei's mind, they didn't seem to fit her in the least. And yet her father-no, Torran, continued to call her this, with no worries of her discomfort.

Harakei Hamano sighed, wrapping her arms around her knees, never breaking her gaze away from the huge black dragon molded from steel that kneeled before her in the guymelef hangar. For the past hour, she had been staring up at the mecha named Escaflowne. The one her fath-Torran had claimed was hers.

That first meeting, her awakening, had been at least a day ago. That's what it felt like, anyway. The next few hours after that had been spent on a tour of the castle in which Torran had resided. Kei closed her eyes just slightly, recalling back to the conversation.

"_And this is the dining area…" Torran waved towards it before smiling and continuing down the hall, which was lined with carpet and lights, looking very cozy. Servants walked by every so often, smiling kindly at the two family members. "Remember, Sylvie, all of this… it's all ours. Yours and mine."_

_Kei nodded, somewhat overwhelmed by everything that had happened. Her gaze passed over the door leading into the dining hall without any interest. She walked on, slightly behind the man who claimed he was her father. Just as they were about to turn into a branching off hallway, she spotted something at the end of the long corridor. There was a door, somewhat hidden in shadow. "What's... that?"_

"_Hmm?" The older draconian paused, glancing back in the direction Kei was staring off into. He smiled smoothly, taking Kei around the shoulder and leading her off down the hall, away from the mysterious door... "That's nothing, daughter. Just the servant headquarters… now, here is the…"_

_Kei frowned, storing in her head the direction to that suspicious looking door. There was no doubt that the man next to her was hiding something. _

_By the end of the tour, Kei had found out the huge castle in which her so called father lived boasted over 20 floors, over 200 servants, and countless rooms filled with things only found by the wealthy and royalty. And yet, she didn't see any more rooms like the one in which she had woken up, with the tubes, cold metal walls, nor did she see any more of the cat women from before._

_She didn't dare mention this to Torran. He was the enemy now, as far as she knew._

Kei sighed once more. Indeed, now that her initial shock of finding her apparent father, her sudden relation to Van Fanel, and her ownership of a mechanical dragon that logically should not even exist or operate, her mind was set right again and everything came back to her like a smack of reality.

After her father had left her, smiling and suggesting that she could explore around the castle for a while, Kei quickly discovered the hangar. She liked this room. It wasn't lavish, with all the pompous accessories the other rooms had. It was peaceful and held a sort of aura of war and battles. This was where her melef was kept among, as Torran had stated, antique guymelefs. It didn't fit in well, considering the black shade of the Escaflowne, and the fact that is was in the form of a dragon, while the rest were almost … human.

As she had stared at them, she realized their true meaning. It wasn't especially hard.

"They're almost like armor, and yet… at the same time, they're weapons of destruction." She said in a soft voice, turned her head to look upon the cold faces of the mechanical weapons. Slowly, but surely, she was beginning to understand the land of Gaea.

Or maybe she was remembering. If what Torran had said was true…

For the third time, Harakei let out a deep breath, burying her face in her bent knees. She was exhausted. She hadn't slept for ages. The bed up in her quarters was untouched, as well as the plate filled with food. She was too anxious, now that she had forced herself to stay on her guard. If she knew one thing, it was that she had to leave this castle. Friendly or not, the place itself gave off a feeling as if it was a wolf in sheep's clothing. As if the warm atmosphere was a facade for something more sinister.

Her mind had organized itself, finally. The young draconian took survey of the situation.

Her pendant was gone, so that was no way out. Plus, it wasn't like she knew how to use it.

Her wing was still injured, so she couldn't fly away.

Van and Hitomi were probably trying to rescue her, but that could take forever, considering that they didn't know where she was.

She could simply run out the doors…

The suggestion was put down instantly with a derisive snort. Run? Run where? She had no idea where she was.

Asking anyone in the castle for help was a lost cause, too. As far as she knew, she couldn't trust anyone, couldn't make any friends.

So what was left? Kei's eyes, glazed over with thought, sharpened as an idea came to her head.

"Of course! The Escaflowne!"

She jumped up and ran toward the melef, not even bothering to look around and check that no one was watching.

The girl paused right below the cockpit, looking around for footholds. Taking note of the extended legs of the dragon, she jumped up easily into the sitting area and observed her surroundings, eager to try out the guymelef. She saw two controls, rather like reins, and grasped them eagerly. She didn't know how she had summoned the black Escaflowne or why. She didn't know why it was so obviously important to her father, either….

"_Just make sure you don't touch the Escaflowne, love. Leave it to me."_

_Kei blinked, looking up from the large window in her room. She had been admiring the spectacular view of the fields, plains, and mountains that surrounded the castle. "Er… why?"_

_Torran glanced off to the side, not meeting her confused eyes. "It's complicated." He suddenly chuckled. "Ah, but no worries, my dear Sylvie. Enjoy yourself; don't worry yourself over such petty things!" _

Petty things, indeed. The Escaflowne was her only way back to Hitomi and Van. As much as Torran had insisted that she belonged in this strange castle, her heart knew better. She truly belonged with her friends. This man… her father… he was a stranger to her, and Kei was less than willing to get to know him better. His suspicious behavior had shown that he was not to be trusted, and Kei was not stupid. She didn't know whether he was evil or not. He had not mentioned anything else about the "ridding the world or all evil" topic. However, Kei didn't want to take the chance. The man could still be lying. That was always a possibility.

"_I don't… belong here. I shouldn't even _be _here! I should be on Earth… with mom and Yuki…" _Her brain screamed.

"_But this really is where I belong. My wings are draconian. Draconians belong on Gaea." _Her heart argued.

With a firmer resolve, shoving the myriad of thoughts into the back of her head, Harakei pulled back the reins of the Escaflowne, prepared for anything that might happen.

Nothing happened.

"Gah!" Kei squeaked in surprise, accidentally toppling forward and falling right out of the cockpit. She tumbled painfully over one of Escaflowne's legs before finally thudding to the ground. A groan escaped her lips as she twitched. "Pain. Ow."

"It's not activated yet, y'know… there's no energist." A voice chuckled from the doorway into the hangar.

Kei gasped and turned over onto her stomach, sitting up hurriedly. "Who's there?"

"Calm down, I'm not gonna hurt you." The voice replied hurriedly, not in the nauseatingly soothing manner as Torran would have said.

The knot in her stomach, created from fear of what Torran would have done if he had seen her fooling with the guymelef, eased slightly, but Kei braced herself, standing carefully and trying not to wince. She didn't want to seem weak in front of a stranger.

The stranger approached, stepping out of the shadows and into the light. Kei gasped, stumbling back slightly to bump into her guymelef.

It turned out to be a young man, about in his 20's. He looked mildly surprised to see her, but was smiling slightly despite that. He was wearing a somewhat varied uniform of what Kei had seen the servants wear. In fact, the only people she had seen in the castle besides Torran were the servants... seeing someone different was even a bit refreshing.

Her eyes flicked over the smooth, hazelnut colored hair that went just past his shoulders, tied back neatly. She noticed the startling violet eyes; the bangs that fell over them. The lightly tanned complexion… the sword that hung at his waist.

Kei finally recovered her speech capability. "Who are you?"

The young man took notice of her suspicion and smiled again. "My name is Lothario. You must be the Lord's daughter everyone has been talking about." He took a step forward. "Silvara Fanel."

"It's Harakei Hamano." The girl shot back angrily and then took a few more steps away from Lothario, trying to keep a good distance between each other.

"Eh… right…" Lothario nodded, then stopped, holding out his hands in a peaceful manner.

Kei hastily assessed the situation, made a few calculations, then…

She dashed forward, ducking slightly incase he was about to hit her, then grabbed his sword hilt, pulling the blade out from its sheath. In seconds, Lothario's own weapon was being held to his throat. "Let me go."

The man's eyes widened slightly in surprise before his eyes unpredictably softened. "Would you honestly kill me? Could you bring yourself to do it?"

The question startled Kei and she blinked for a moment. "I… I…."

Before she even had a chance to say something coherent, Lothario was speaking again. "Listen, Kei, I'm trying to help you. You just have to trust me. I know it's a lot to ask of you, but you have to. I can get you out of here, if you'll just listen."

Perhaps it was the sincerity and urgency in his voice, or the pleading look in his eye, but Kei found herself hesitating. "W-Why should I trust you?"

"_Kei… he called me Kei."_

"Because you can't trust your father. Other than that, I have no proof. You just have to have some faith. Plus…"

He reached into his inner jacket pocket, causing Kei to tense in suspicion. But instead of pulling out a weapon, Lothario drew out a small leather bag. He smiled slightly and held it out to the girl, politely ignoring the sword that was still being held to his neck.

Glancing from the purse to Lothario's face, Kei slowly lowered the sword and took the offering. Careful to keep one eye on the young man at all times, she opened the bag and impatiently shook out the contents into her free hand.

Of all the things she had expected to be inside the bag, her pink Atlantis pendant was not even on the list. The sword fell from numbed fingers as Kei stared down at the stone, then at Lothario. "You… how?"

Lothario chuckled, slowly nodding. "Your father gave it to me for safe-keeping, but I decided to… give it back to its rightful owner." There was a flicker of mischief in his eyes.

Harakei's heart leapt to her throat. This man. She could trust this man. Throwing her arms around his neck in a grateful motion, she said, "Thank you so much, Lothario."

He was startled, but managed another chuckled nonetheless as he returned the hug. "Oh, it's nothing. But don't mind the full name nonsense. You can call me Lo."

Flushing, the girl pulled away and carefully clasped the necklace around her neck once more, tucking it underneath her uniform blouse. "Thank you… Lo."

Lo nodded again, kneeling to retrieve his sword. "Don't mention it. Now, we have to get you out of here before Lord Torran comes back to look for you. I'll try to explain everything that I can; you're just going to have to keep up."

"Oh, I think I can do that." Harakei managed a grin, her previous soreness forgotten.

"Follow me, we have to get you the energist first. I'll explain on the way." Lo took his hand in hers and led her off out of the room in a quick pace.

Kei, grinning, followed after him, excitement bubbling up inside of her. She was getting out. She was escaping this castle, getting back to Hitomi and Van, and getting back to what was important, which was solving Van's dilemma.

"Now, this castle…" Lo began in a quiet voice, leading her through deserted passageways. Kei's attention raptly went to Lothario, but she couldn't help but grin eagerly.

It seemed that she had found herself a friend in the castle after all.

* * *

Shortish, but I actually really like this chapter. Swoot.

Reviews, anyone?


	10. Author's Note

Rawr. Hello, faithful readers…

(crickets chirping)

Or not.

Right. So I've put up this author's note to clear a few things up.

This fic is now being put on hold. I'm not dropping it completely, but I'm considering two options. I either simply re-write the chapters so that they're a bit more interesting and progressive, or I take the plot and move it in a different direction as a completely different fanfic. I apologize to whoever was reading this fic and actually caring.

Will I give away the plot and the rest of the plan that I had in mind for Eternity Dragons? Psh, no. xD

For now, I'm starting up a new Esca fic and I hope that the new one'll turn out a bit better. But, as of now, that one's in the works. I just put up this Author's Note to make myself feel better than I didn't leave "Eternity Dragons" completely hanging.

Sorry, all.


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